The effects of the moon on people: Myths and facts
The moon has a mysterious place in the cultural history of human beings. It is not surprising that numerous myths about the supposed effects of the moon on us, in many different contexts ranging from werewolves to insanity and epileptic seizures.
Numerous researches over the years have attempted to establish whether there is any statistical link between the months - especially the full moon - and the biological structures or behavior of humans. While most of the researches that deal with this issue in depth do not witness any correlation between the two, some studies are not convincing enough and some studies reveal that there is a connection between the two, using the wrong methods.
Reliable studies comparing birth phases, heart attacks, death, suicide, violence, mental hospitalization, epileptic seizures, and other events have been demonstrated many times that there is no or no link between the two.
According to a hypothesis that is yet to be supported by certain data, there may be only one indirect link between the two: before the introduction of contemporary lighting equipment, the light of the full moon has allowed people to survive overnight, resulting in insomnia, which in turn leads to other mental problems.
The following are some of the research on the effects of the moon on humans, which have undergone scientific considerations, but lack any links.
Sara: Some believe that seizures of epileptic patients are triggered by the full moon, but a study published in the 2004 magazine Epilepsy & Behavior revealed no link between the two. Researchers point out that the belief that epileptic seizures were once the result of the entry of demons or demons into the human body, so that people tend to give an explanation based on the myths rather than the possible medical data.
Mental illnesses: A 2005 study by Mayo Clinic researchers focused on the number of patients admitted to mental health centers between 6 pm and 6 am. The researchers did not observe any statistically significant difference between the number of patients who applied to these centers during the three nights of the full moon and those who applied to the other nights.
Emergency department applications: In a study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine in 1996, the records of 150,999 applications submitted to the emergency department of an out-of-town hospital were examined and no differences were observed between the full moon and other periods.
Surgery results: Do doctors and nurses become more incompetent during the full moon? According to a study published in the journal Anesthesiology in 2009, this is not the case.
The researchers have shown that, regardless of the day or time of surgery, the exact same reservations are always in question.
Pet injuries: Researchers of 11,940 injuries at the Colorado State University Veterinary School saw an increase of 23% in cats and 28% in dogs during full-moon periods. This may be due to the fact that pet owners tend to take them out on the full moon, or for some other reason - no cause could be identified in the survey.
Menstruation: This topic is one of the most open to different views (some are extremely robust and convincing), but there is little evidence. Here, the month passes through the full moon every month and women are seen each month, starting from the opinion. Although women's menstrual cycles actually vary in terms of time and timing, this cycle takes place on average every 28 days. On the other hand, the 29.5-day cycle of the month does not change much. A study by Winnifred B. Cutler (only 312 women) in 1980 and published in The American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology points to a connection between the two. Cutler witnessed 40% of the subjects experiencing the menstrual cycle during the two-week period (which means that 60% did not).
Crazy animals: Two conflicting studies, published in the British Medical Journal in 2001, raise suspicions that require more extensive studies. In one of these studies, it was observed that those who applied to the emergency department due to animal bites in Britain doubled in full-moon periods compared to other periods. However, a second study in Australia revealed that dogs bite people at a similar frequency every day of the month. Some animals actually behave differently during the full moon. For example, lions that usually hunt at night tend to hunt more during the day after the full moon. This may be to avoid the possible reservations of moonlight hunting.
Insomnia: There is a lot of research on this issue. In a study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders in 1999, experts said that before the modern lighting devices were “an important source of illumination affecting the sleep-wake cycle of the month,, this periodic insomnia was sufficient to trigger mania / hypomania in bipolar patients and seizures in epileptic patients. they may be. However, when scientific data on this subject were searched, no concrete evidence confirming such a connection was found. Following this research, several other studies were conducted.
In 2013, a small-scale study of 33 volunteer volunteers showed that the subjects slept less during the full moon period, even if they did not see the moon and were not aware of what phase the moon was in. A year later, a comprehensive study by the Max-Plank Institute of Psychology did not reveal a clear link between lunar cycles and sleep.
More recently, a study published in March 2016 covering 5,800 children aged 9-11 years from different countries found that children slept less than 5 minutes during the full-moon period. Although the researchers noted that the 5-minute difference would not have a significant health impact, the result was interesting. Experts in the full moon during the full moon in this period is connected to the brighter, although all the artificial light around the arm of the present day, this statement is suspicious of attracting attention.
Myths continue
Given the fact that modern lighting and micro-shutters have largely eliminated the craziness associated with lunar cycles in human beings, why doesn't the rumors come to an end?
Researchers point out a possible response: when strange events occur during the full moon, people are surprised by the fark random ”sphere glowing in the sky. When such oddities occur on other days of the month, people greet them with oddities, but not with celestial events.
Science If the police and doctors expect that full-moon nights will be more eventful, they may interpret the traumas and crises in this turn as more extreme than ever, Ben says Benjamin Radford, a columnist for Bad Science magazine. Expectations affect perceptions, and that's why people seek evidence to confirm their beliefs. ”
This allows us to reach a conclusion that will perhaps be the most logical blow to the myths about the moon craze:
The tide event reaches its highest levels not only in the full moon, but also in the new moon during which the moon lies between the earth and the sun (we cannot see the moon in this period), and our planet experiences the gravitational effects of both equally. Nevertheless, no one makes silly words about the new moon (except for the fact that the shores are more polluted during the full moon and new moon periods).
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