Popularly, she has many powers: making hair grow, advancing childbirth, altering sleep, influencing the menstrual cycle and even triggering outbreaks of madness. But do the movements of the moon really have an impact on our life?
Before talking about the human body, however, it must be said that scientists have no doubts about one thing: the moon is responsible for the movement of the tides. This happens because the oceans are large liquid masses, which, as the satellite approaches, are pulled closer to it. This attraction is so significant that it makes the sea approach or move away from the coast.
But if the moon is capable of moving the oceans, why wouldn’t there be any influence on our body, which is 75% water?
The moon is a large object, one third the size of Earth, and ‘pulls’ whatever is closer, which has greater volume, like the oceans. This does not happen with human beings, because we have very small masses, and this effect is negligible
Elcio Abdalla, professor at the Instituto of Physics at the University of São Paulo
Despite this, popular belief remains firm, and many scientists seek to It has been decades verifying whether we really need to pay attention to the lunar calendar.
In search of this answer, researchers Russell Foster and Till Roenneberg, for example, decided to review more than one hundred publications on the subject. The result became an article published in 2008 in the scientific journal Current Biology.
They discovered that there is evidence that some species of nocturnal behavior choose the full moon for reproduction. The artifice would have to do with the amount of light available, which helps to avoid predator attacks, increasing the chances of the offspring’s life.
When it comes to humans, however, Foster and Roenneberg concluded that “there is no convincing evidence that the moon can affect our biology”.
Example of this is hair growth. There is no research to indicate that it is influenced by the cut-off date. What is known is that the development of hair depends on hormonal changes, diet, stress and chronic diseases. But in other areas, even science seems not to be so sure that this effect is even null. This is the case of the belief that the moon would have the power to give a little push to the birth of babies. Image representative AMP Postpartum depression: tips can help in prevention (pregnant) To check if this is true , a study carried out in Italy analyzed 1,248 natural births in a period of three years. According to the researchers, the data showed that there is a small increase in the number of births on the first or second day after the full moon. Another study, this time carried out in Austria, analyzed a longer period of births, between 1970 and 1999, and did not find a significant relationship between the number of natural births and the lunar Despite popular belief, numerous scientific studies have not proven the influence of the moon’s change on labor . The studies also do not confirm the relationship between the lunar cycles and the menstrual cycle But the beliefs don’t stop there. Some say, for example, that the moon influences sleep, our mental health and even recovery from surgery. In the first case, there seems to be reason to believe in the changes in the sky. This at least was the result of a research carried out by a group from the University of Basel , in Switzerland, which found that sleep can vary according to the phases of the moon. According to a study published in 2013 in the scientific journal Current Biology, the quality and duration of our sleep are worse on nights with a full moon. To reach this conclusion, the researchers monitored the parameters in the laboratory. of 17 young people in each phase of the moon. They found that brain waves during non-REM sleep were reduced by 30% during the full moon. In the same phase, the total sleep time was 20 minutes shorter and the participants reported a worsening in the quality of sleep. The reason for this is not very well known. Most likely there is some biological mechanism in the sleep-wake cycle that is influenced by the lunar cycle. But I believe that more studies are needed to find this connection Science already knows that sleep deprivation is associated with triggering crises associated with bipolar disorder, for example. This is a possible explanation for the belief that the full moon would be associated with a supposed increase in cases of suicide, aggression and psychiatric hospitalizations. Data, however, do not show differences between the number of such episodes and the lunar cycle. Likewise, a large amount of research indicates that surgical recovery and cases of violence are not associated with the full moon, as many believe. “This idea that there is an influence of the stars on our lives is very playful and comes from ancient civilizations, who saw images in the sky and did not even know that the constellations, for example, were projections. Today we know a lot, but there are still coincidences and that’s why the belief continues”, says the professor of physics at USP. Note: This article has been indexed to our site. We do not claim legitimacy, ownership or copyright of any of the content above. To see the article at original source Click Here Does your hair grow?
Help in childbirth?
Matheus Beleza, gynecologist and obstetrician at Cemefe (Centro de Fetal Medicine) Does it affect sleep?
Fabio Porto, neurologist at Hospital das Clínicas de São Paulo