The Moon Cycles vs. Chronic Insomniacs – Fresh Discoveries

Many health problems are related to poor sleep or sleep conditions and also many diseases start manifesting by influencing the quality of sleep.The full moon is blamed for the feeling of restlessness and lack of quality sleep for many years and surprisingly, recent finding proved the theory right.The-Moon-Cycles

The study

Based on the facts discovered during an experiment conducted 10 years ago and recently reevaluated the moon cycles has a strong influence over sleep and psychiatric conditions.

The scientists used 33 volunteers without any health issues for determining how the full moon influences the sleeping pattern.

The participants were introduced to a closed environment with controlled heat and humidity and without windows,and hosted for three and a half days. Their sleep was monitored and neither the subjects , nor the group of scientists were aware the exact purpose of the study. This way the sleep pattern manifestation occurred naturally without outside influence.

Realistic results

The volunteers presented a reduction of the sleeping interval with 20 minutes.  Also, blood work have shown that the evening melatonin levels were lower in the subjects during the full moon.  Since melatonin is vital for the circadian rhythm which conditions our predisposition towards needing to sleep or staying awake the conclusion from the laboratory measurements are clear: the full moon disrupts sleeping patterns.

Why would this interest the general population?

Previous psychiatric studies on Alzheimer patients concluded that the increased state of agitation and insomnia symptoms appeared during the full moon. The circadian rhythm in the case of patients with Alzheimer seems to be more susceptible to the moon influence that the one of healthy people.

Sleep disorders become even more obvious during full moon. States of anxiety are amplified by the lack of sleep quality and also suicidal episodes are more likely to manifest during the full moon.

However doubtful it may seem, the full moon increases the manifestations of the large majority of diseases. Insomniacs for example, are prone to develop several other issues like nightmares and sleep walking during full moon.

Studies have also shown that during the full moon, the inmate population from prisons is more inclined to generate riots and cell block fights.

The need for further study

The scientists feel there is need for further study. Accurate results can be obtained only in case the participants are kept in a controlled environment during a full lunar cycle of at least 30 days.