Horoscope: How the moon affects the period

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Surprising study result
Does the moon affect the period?

© kdshutterman / Shutterstock

Stephanie Pingel

by Stephanie Pingel

Mystery of the moon: An international research team shows with a study that the menstrual cycle of women could be related to the moon cycles.

The moon exerts a fascinating attraction on many people: some swear by its healing powers, others have the feeling that they cannot sleep when the moon is full. Scientific evidence that the moon can affect us is largely lacking. At least until now: A research team from Munich, Würzburg, Buenos Aires and the USA has presented a small study according to which the menstrual cycle of women was largely synchronized with the lunar cycles in antiquity.

Modern life far from the moon

But over the centuries this synchronous process has changed: On the one hand, modern lifestyles have shifted the menstrual cycle of women; on the other hand, the much-used artificial light plays a role. The University of Würzburg published the results of the study in the specialist journal Science Advances.

The study focused on 22 women who had kept a diary of their menstrual cycles for up to 32 years. It is the first time that such an approach has been used to evaluate long-term data. The women's statements were compared with the three lunar cycles:

  • Change between full and new moon
  • Position of the moon relative to the equator
  • epileptic orbit of the moon around the earth (indicates how close or far the moon is to the earth)

According to the study report, all three lunar cycles affect the onset of menstruation in women. The most important factor seemed to be the moonlight at night, but the gravitational forces also had an effect. Also interesting: the cycle of women up to the age of 35 seems to be more synchronous with the lunar cycle than the cycle of older women. And the chronotype of a woman also plays a role: The so-called female "night owls", i.e. people who go to bed late and are exposed to artificial light for a correspondingly long time, do not show any obvious synchronization with the lunar cycles.

Criticism of a few subjects

The study results should also be viewed with caution in general – as the researchers themselves admit. Because only 22 women took part in the study, the data are only partially meaningful. The team is now planning to use a mobile phone app to collect more data.

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