An article culled from the Daily Telegraph 17 May 2000

Many scoff, but research links erratic behaviour and illness to the lunar cycle. Stephen Armstrong reports
Tomorrow night, there will be a full hanging in the sky and, across Transylvania, Romanian peasants will bolt their doors, take crosses out of drawers and load their trusty shotguns with silver bullets. In Britain's sprawling cities and well-tended country lanes, however, we will simply turn in and sleep comfortably. If we give a thought to the superstitions Romanians, it will be one of contempt. "The full moon?" we will scoff. "What possible damage could that do?"
And yet, civilised reader, perhaps we should be less cynical. Research over the past few years has suggested that the full moon may, indeed, have some effect on our health and emotional wellbeing. There are instances of erratic behaviour, poor health, emergency call-outs for GPs and even fertility anomalies, all potentially linked to the lunar cycle. Despite all the noise that our modern world creates some experts are now arguing, we would do well not to ignore the softer sound of nature s own cycles.
Philip Howard is director of Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer, which opens tonight at the Barbican in London. "Our play is about the power and emotion that people experience on the night of a full moon, so perhaps we were paying more attention to its effects during rehearsal than most people normally do," he says. "None the less, when the play's regional opening in Edinburgh took place on the night of a full moon, all of the cast felt a charge in the air. It was a powerful first night, and we all commented on it. We're hoping it will have the same effect on the cast."
There is little doubt that the full moon can affect people's behaviour. Consultant psychiatrist Dr Raj Persaud says that most psychiatrists have treated at least one or two patients who appear to have been affected by the moon. In forensic psychiatry, in particular, there are cases where people who behave dangerously are far more agitated at the time of a full moon. Psychiatric hospitals all over the country increase security according to the lunar cycle. The best known examples of such lunatics — the word is derived from the Latin for moon — are Christopher Gore who, in 1992, began a sentence at Broadmoor for killing his parents and two others on full moon nights. Charles Hyde's chilling series of full moon murders in the late 1880s inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
However, is it simply the case that the insane see the full moon and respond accordingly, or is there a real link between the lunar cycle and lunacy? The British Psychological Society says that the effect of the full moon is something it is often asked about, but none of its members has pursued any research into the subject.
The possibility of a real link lies in the area of physical health. Between 1989 and 1991, a Bournemouth GP,Dr Peter Perkins, and a local nursing home matron, Linda Brownlie, conducted a 24-month research project to confirm their hunch that the full moon had an effect on the rate of GP call-out.
"I'm part of a GP call-out rota of nine doctors who look after 20,000 patients," Dr Perkins explains. "I was curious why some nights were busier than others when there was no obvious reason — it wasn't a bank holiday or a Saturday night or anything. I found a study of about 50 years ago which linked post-operative haemorrhaging with the full moon, and I started to wonder. We compared the rate of calls to 79 doctors with the lunar cycle, and we found emergency calls increased by three per cent at the time of the full moon."
Dr Perkins also points to other research in the area — a Canadian team proved that women's menstrual cycles (in cases where no birth control pills were used) could be linked to the full moon. In China, a similar survey proved the cycles were linked to the new moon. In the mid-Eighties, doctors at St Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth researching prostate problems noticed a significant link between the new moon and urinary retention, while a Polish project claimed a link between birth-rate and the full moon.
"Although there needs to be more work in the area, the latest hypothesis is a tidal theory, based on the moon's gravitational pull affecting intracellular fluid in a part of the hypothalamus called the supra chiasmatic nucleus," Dr Perkins explains. "The hypothalamus is the part of the body that regulates body behaviour, sleep and temperature regulation and it links in with various diurnal patterns. It is possible that changes in the nucleus could affect body health."
However, it is clear that the mainstream medical establishment remains wary of investigating the possible links between health and the full moon. So it's up to us: as you clamber into bed tomorrow night, stop for a second and see how you feel. Write it down. Then, around the new moon in a fortnight's time, do it again. You may be able to find that you can identify those mysterious mood swings you've been having, after all.


Nigel (bold text highlighted by me)