Does lunar cycle affect biological parameters in young healthy men?

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to assess the effects of the lunar cycle on diurnal variation of biological, i.e, hormonal, biochemical, and hematological, profiles of diurnally active healthy men. Blood samples of 20 males were collected on four occasions [full moon (FM) and new moon (NM), in the morning (06:00–07:00 h) and evening (19:00–20:00 h)]. The results showed that melatonin and testosterone levels and neutrophils count were lower during the FM as compared to the NM in the morning (p < .001; d = 4.13, p < .001; d = 3.84, p < .01; d = 0.77, respectively) and evening (p < .001; d = 6.36, p < .001; d = 4.03, p < .05; d = 1.07, respectively) samples. However, cortisol level was higher during the FM compared to the NM, in the morning (p < .001; d = 0.74) and evening (p < .001; d = 3.54). Hemoglobinemia was higher only in the evening during the FM compared to the evening of the NM (p < .01; d = 1.22). In summary, this study confirmed that lunar cycle can affect human biological parameters independently of time of day.

KEYWORDS:

• Lunar Phase
• full moon
• time-of-day
• melatonin
• cortisol
• testosterone
• hematology
• males

Acknowledgements

Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library.

The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to all participants for their efforts which helped in completion of this study.

Declaration of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.