article_snippet: And it's a theory that persists today, with many people believing that a full moon is more likely to coincide with hectic periods in hospitals or in birth wards.
article_snippet: A researcher from the University of California California says that claims the moon causes illnesses are rubbish. 
article_snippet: The absence of a lunar influence on human affairs has been demonstrated in the areas of automobile accidents, hospital admissions, surgery outcomes, cancer survival rates, menstruation, births, birth complications, depression, violent behaviour, and even criminal activity', Jean-Luc Margot writes.
article_snippet: Even though a 40-year-old UCLA study demonstrated that the timing of births does not correlate in any way with the lunar cycle, the belief in a lunar effect has persisted.
article_snippet: A 2004 study in a nursing journal, for example, suggested that the full moon influenced the number of hospital admissions in a medical unit in Barcelona, Spain.
article_snippet: By re-analysing the data, Dr Margot showed that the number of admissions was unrelated to the lunar cycle. '
highlights_snippet: Scientist at the University of California studied lunar myths .
  
highlights_snippet: Scientist at the University of California found that full moons do not correlate with illnesses or 'hectic' periods .
  