Meta Analysis of Lunar Lunacy Research 

Campell and Beets concluded that "lunar phase is not related to human behaviour" - however it shouldn’t be assumed that every member of the scientific community accepted their findings.

Garzino, one particular critic, accused them of ignoring crucial evidence, dismissing positive data as a type I error and failing to "comprehend the complexities of lunar influences"

Research on lunar periodicities has been guided by the idea that there must be a kernel of truth in a belief that so many people hold. Even some critics of the lunar hypothesis believe that the full moon might act as a self-fulfilling prophecy.o 81/165 undergraduates believe that people act strangely when it's the full moono Influenced by newspaper and magazine reports that highlight bizarre activities when the

moon is full Campell thought that hypotheses that supported 'lunacy' were "fickle" as lunar relations change in

strength, direction and time lag from year to year, sample to sample… The primary concern of the two scientists was statistical issues. For example, Campell thought

positive findings were examples of type I error while Garzino thought failures could be attributed to the greater probability of Type II error. --> therefore a meta analysis was conducted

Those who defend the lunar hypothesis feel that it is "a rather weak, only midly potent, if not trivial, variable in human behaviour"

Their meta-analysis concludes that the phases of the moon account for no more than 1% of the variance in behaviour.

  The influence of the full moon on seizure frequency Peer Reviewed Article 

Reviewed the occurrence of seizures recorded in the epilepsy monitoring unit of the Tampa General Hospital over a 3-year period. (long time frame, first hand data therefore credible)o The number of epileptic seizures were at the lowest point during the full moon and at the

highest during the last quartero New moon -> first quarter -> full moon -> last quartero Therefore, this is a myth - the few studies that allege a relationship have flawed

methodology (Meta analysis) No significant association was found Well documented factors that precipitate in cases of epilepsy include: sleep deprivation, alcohol

intake and flashing lights.  Gravitational effects of the period of high tides and the new moon on lunacy Peer Reviewed Article 

Based on basic geophysical principles of gravitation fluxes: the gravitation effects of the lunar phases are negligible compared with terrestrial gravity fluxes experienced in daily life

Lunacy -> the idea that the moon exerts influence over human behaviour. Anecdotes from health care workers, police, fire-fighters, bartenders, cab drivers, etc. have revitalized interest in this subject by both professionals and the public

Important because it is:o Accepted by a large number of physicians and other health care workerso Supported by a number of articles in professional and scientific literature (written by

health care workers trained at doctorial levels)o Kepler believed that the moon held a selective affinity for water and that celestial bodies

could influence humans through effects on body fluids Often critics of lunacy attack the favourable articles almost exclusively on the grounds of failure

to replicate - not a compelling argument when a number of articles show positive correlationo Statistical arguments are obscure o Rejection of the basis of apparent improbability is just as unacceptable scientifically as

uncritical acceptance of the theoryo Galileo rejected Kepler's theory about lunar influence on tides

  The idea:

 Lieber AL. The lunar effect: biological tides and human emo- tion. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday; 1978  The gravitation effect of the full moon is directly or indirectly responsible for these events. "theory of biological tides" - "because the body is composed of 80% water and 20% 'land' or solids, it is reasonable to assume that gravity exerts a direct effect on the water mass of the body, just as it does on the water mass of the planet. -> the body is susceptible to the same cosmic influences as the Earth Theory 2: the disturbance in the emf of the Earth caused by lunar gravitational changes during the period of the full moon that brings about these behavioural effects.  Theory 3: Nongravitational aspects of the moon may influence humans - moonlight   Method:

Evaluate the gravitational effects associated with the full moon Determine the moon phases or tidal gravitational rhythms that have equal or greater than effect

on the full moon Results

Although periodic variations in tidal gravitation was noted, none of them coincided uniquely with the timing of the full moon

the magnitude of the sum of all of the tidal gravitational fhtxes combined is minuscule in com- parison to terrestrial gravity fluxes experienced rou- tinely in daily living --> further experimentation into this topic is discouraged

"There is simply no physical basis for a belief that the moon, full or otherwise, exerts an effect on humans in any ways other than aesthetically.

Gravitation effects of the moon and sun combined are minuscule overall Contribution to barometric pressure is insignificant physiologically

  The moon and madness reconsidered Peer Reviewed Article 

Moon used to be regarded as a significant source of nocturnal illumination that affected sleep-wake cycles, tending to cause sleep deprivation around the time of the full moon. This should be significant enough to induce seizure in patients with seizure disorders. -> modern lighting attenuated this effect

'Lunacy' itself is derived from Luna, the Roman goddess of the moon A recent survey showed that 43% of the general public and 81% of mental health professional

believe in the moon's power o Regardless of abundant evidence amassed determining no relationship between phase of

the moon and any measurable parameter of mental functioning, is surprising o The few studies that have found positive correlation are so methodologically flawed as to

be ruled out as examples of type I error  Why is this belief popular?

The moon does affect the mind but studies aren't capturing relevant variables or the effects aren't measurable (the time between symptom onset and hospitalization is not recorded)o If the moon possesses such power recorded since antiquity, some indication of its effects

on the mind would have been visible across the wide range of variables that have been studied

The moon is a libido symbol, which came to be associated with insanity and sleep deprivation through its evocation of 'ambivalence' o Not a socio-biologic reality of the outer world, but rather a mythological truth about inner

human psychological experience o The belief represents a cultural fossil - the moon once had an effect on the brain that is

has since lost

Elder noted that the full moon gives birth to heavy nocturnal dew and by extension causes the brain to become 'unnaturally moist' leading to both lunacy and epileptic attacks (McG. Kelley, D., 1942. Mania and the Moon. Psychoanal. Rev. 9, 406 – 426. )

Full moon Carcopino 1941 Carcopino, J., 1941. Daily Life in Ancient Rome, Peregrine, London, Lorimer E.O. translator.  

When there was no moon its streets were plunged in impenetrable darkness. Therefore, the full moon must have allowed for many activities. So, conclusively on average people stayed up later and slept less during the full moon than at other times of the month -> people were deprived of sleep

Prolonged sleep deprivation has been highlighted as a cause for seizures. Partial sleep deprivation over the course of a single night can induce mania both in previously healthy but presumable vulnerable individuals and in patients with pre-existing bipolar disorder.

 Wehr, T.A., Sack, D.A., Rosenthal, N.E., 1987. Sleep reduction as a final common pathway in the genesis of mania. Am. J. Psychiatry 144, 231–235.  

Prolonged sleep deprivation has been highlighted as a cause for seizures. Partial sleep deprivation over the course of a single night can induce mania both in previously healthy but presumable vulnerable individuals and in patients with pre-existing bipolar disorder.

However, in this experiment, it was shown that nearly 50% patients recovered with one night's sleep - the effect of moonlight on many people would have been time limited

Epilepsy is the most established sleep-wake disorder.  is the most established and best characterized. The effect of sleep on epileptic sei- zures was discussed by Gowers (1885) and quantita- tively assessed as early as 1929 (Langdon-Down and Brain, 1929). Sleep deprivation has long been recog- nized as a potent way to provoke seizures (Shouse et al., 1996).  Rajna and Veres

Sleep decrements of only 1.5 hours from baseline increased seizure occurrence significantly: nearly 60% of their patients seized on days following mild sleep decreases.

If sleep deprivation increases seizure risk, the moon in the years before aritifial lighting need have exerted only modest effects on the sleep-wake cycle to have significantly increased the risk of seizures when full.

Most likely to provoke a seizure within 48h of occurrence of sleep deprivation (rodin)o Time limited and immediate o Most seizures would have occurred while the full moon was still hung in the sky,

increasing the likelihood of an association being made between moonlight and epilepsy, even in the absence of controlled observation

 Wehr et al. 1995

Artificial lighting dampens any effects the moon may have once exerted - showed that natural lighting from the moon or the sun can be dampened by technology

  Time of day in relation to convulsions in epilepsy Peer Reviewed Article 

66 patients with epilepsy were monitored over a period of 6 months (2524 cases in total) Only 24.2% of the seizures were nocturnal, and this is very close to the 22% Gowers formulated

in his landmark investigation on the same topic. Gowers introduced the idea that sleep and seizures are linked

 Correlations between night sleep duration and seizure frequency in temporal lobe epilepsy Peer Reviewed Article 

24 patients wrote a daily diary for 2 months recording the exact duration of night sleep and exact date of seizures - the reliability of this method was confirmed

 

 

Lunacy Peer Reviewed Article 

A random subset of 25 each emergency physicians and nurses were asked to anonymously complete the form during a weekday interphase nonlunar shift

92% nurses believe that lunar pay differentials and 60% of physicians Moonstruck? The effect of the lunar cycle on seizures Peer Reviewed Article 

Discrepancies in the reports suggest that it is an inconsistent phenomenon and may simply reflect statistical probability combined with a publication bias toward positive findings

Polychronopoulos et al. [2] found an increase in emergency room admissions for seizures during the full moon quarter in a series of 859 patients.

Results: significant negative correlation between the mean number of epileptic seizures per 24 hours and the fraction of the moon illuminated.o Epileptic seizures are less likely to occur on brighter nightso Partial correlations (conducted to control for cloud cover on the brightness of the moon)

he fraction of the moon illuminated was not significantly correlated with the number of seizure events

o Suggests that brightness of the night and the contribution of the moon phase to that would most likely have an effect on seizures

Possible nocebo effect associated with beliefs surrounding the full moon Does the lunar phase have an effect on sudden unexpected death in epilepsy? Peer Reviewed Article 

The incidence of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) in our epilepsy unit over an 8-year period was analyzed to determine a possible association between phase of the moon and SUDEP. o Highest was in full moon 70%

SUDEP is responsible for 7.5-17% of all deaths from epilepsy - seizure related cardiac or respiratory dysfunction