Title: Do moon phases have any effect on human health?
Headings: Can the moon really influence your health?
Can the moon really influence your health?
The moon and menstrual cycles
The moon and sleep
The moon and mental health

Content: The team got the idea to look at any correlations with moon phases only later. “ We just thought of it after a drink in a local bar one evening at full moon, years after the study was completed,” they write in their paper. The analysis the investigators then conducted suggested that immediately before and after a full moon, participants took about 5 minutes longer, on average, to fall asleep, and their sleep duration fell by about 20 minutes. Their sleep was also lighter than usual, and melatonin levels also dropped close to the full moon, the researchers note. The researchers could not explain these changes by exposure to bright moonlight since the participants slept in fully dark, controlled environments. “The lunar cycle seems to influence human sleep, even when one does not ‘see’ the moon and is not aware of the actual moon phase,” Cajochen told the BBC. The moon and mental health
Another widely held notion has it that the moon influences mood and psychiatric health, and that the full moon, in particular, can make people more aggressive. Share on Pinterest
Recent evidence disproves the notion that certain moon phases could make people more aggressive. In folklore, the full moon triggers the metamorphosis from human to wolf of the werewolf, a mythical creature that reflects our ongoing fascination with the “bestial” potential of humans. English words denoting madness or eccentricity, such as “moony,” “lunatic,” or “lunacy,” all have Old English or Latin roots meaning “moon.”