anxioushoneybadgers

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How close are you and the moon??

Hey ladies (and some guys)! I wanted to share some cool info I found about how the moon can affect women in a pretty universal way! See what I did there? And just so the guys know, I’m talking about periods so don’t act grossed out (it’s natural!). 

Ok, so, the lunar cycle is around 29.5 days (give or take a day) and about 28% of reproductively mature women have a menstrual cycle the same length. Within that 28%, nearly 70% of women show the onset of menses within 7.5 days of a full moon. So, the women in this group who engaged in what the researchers called “regular weekly heterosexual intercourse” (sexy and classy phrase, right?) were way more consistent and fertile than women who were celebate or had less frequent sex, and that a more active sex life could create the consistency and fertility observed.

The researchers also saw that timing and length of a woman’s period could be significantly altered by “axillary secretions.” That weirded me out with an odd mental picture at first but it's just sweat, really. They were using data volunteered from college-aged women primarily in the month of October and also one study in the spring. Women who didn’t line up with the lunar cycle were randomly scattered through the calendar days as expected, and again the women who were most fertile and consistent lined up with the lunar cycle with the full moon occurring about 15 days after a new moon.

How cool is all of that? So try to be best friends with the moon to make your life more predictable and find someone to enjoy the night with!

Have fun, Charli

Citations are important: CUTLER, W. B., SCHLEIDT, W. M., FRIEDMANN, E., PRETI, G., & STINE, R. (1987). Lunar Influences on the Reproductive Cycle in Women. Human Biology, 59(6), 959–972. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41463960

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Do you need a menstrual cycle to be affected by the moon? - Abby Maske

While one of our main focuses for our research in this page is the effect lunar events have on female menstrual cycles, we don't want to overlook men and the potential effects on them. For the other half of humans what occurs in their bodys and is it similar to women? We looked at a research study called “ Does the lunar cycle affect biological parameters in young healthy men?” by Chronobiology international. This study is the test of levels in youth men during a full moon and during a new moon. They used 24 healthy young men from 25 yrs old to 27 yrs old. During the test they showed no sleep disturbance according to the Pittsburgh sleep quality index. The blood tests they did were Radioimmunoassay  kits (A68449  Melatonin  RIA,  IM1841  Cortisol  RIA,  and IM1087  Testosterone  RIA,  Beckman  Coulter Laboratories, USA). The post hoc tests revealed that medical laboratory levels and TST(testosterone) levels  were lower  during  the Full moon compared  to the  New moon, both  in the  morning. Although CRT (cortisol) levels  were  higher  in the Full moon compared to the New moon, both in the morning. In the study summary it emphasizes “This  is  the  first  study  investigating  the  effects of  LC(lunar cycle)  on diurnal variation of hormonal, biochemical, and hematolo-gical parameters in a light-controlled laboratory on healthy active men” This is necessary to our study to be able to cross compare with the statistics on womens bodys to get a better understanding of how our bodys as humans change with the lunar positioning. The main findings were  that MLT,  TST, and  NEU levels were lower during the Full moon compared to the New moon both in  the  morning and  evening.  However,  CRT  levels  were higher  during the  Full moon  compared to  the New moon  both in  the morning and evening. Interestingly, HB(heartbeat) levels were higher only on the evening of the Full moon compared to the New moon. The present  study confirms  for the first time  that the  Lunar cycle affects the hormonal and hematological profile of humans. “Whether moon phases  modulate it is not evident  and still needs to be explored.” This quote is why we have also taken the time to examine the effect on women as well during studies. The study proved that their levels of testosterone were slightly higher during a new moon but cortisol levels were lower during a new moon. The study confirmed that the stages of the moon create a biological event in the body’s blood.  The study of the moon's effect on menstrual cycles meaning we focus on people presenting with menstrual cycles but not people without. This article allows for us to get insight on the possible changes that could be happening not only in body’s with menstrual cycles but also ones without. The test itself is a piece of evidence for our blog to be able to give facts to the physical effects of the lunar light on the body.

This graph shows the difference between the testosterone on a full moon vs. a new moon. P1 represents the cortisol levels in the subjects on a new moon whereas P2 represents the cortisol levels on the full moon. D1 represents the testosterone on a new moon whereras D2 represents the testosterone on a full moon.

The graph and essay are in referance to the work done by Dergaa I; Romdhani M;Fessi MS;Ben Saad H;Varma A;Ben Salem A;Gadhavi B;Chaabane M; Souissi N;Hammouda O; (2021, March 28). Does the lunar cycle affect biological parameters in young healthy men?. Chronobiology international. 

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After the conclusion of our research I interveiwed some of my partners (Sadie & Zoë) on the project and I have included some information from our findings as well. Any opinions are our own and not from the studies we used.

Citation: Komada Y, Sato M, Ikeda Y, Kami A, Masuda C, Shibata S. (2021, March 21). The Relationship between the Lunar Phase, Menstrual Cycle Onset and Subjective Sleep Quality among Women of Reproductive Age. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 18(6), 3245. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063245

Post created by Lindsey

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The Moon's Influence on Sleep

Did you know that the phase of the moon cycle can influence your sleep? Researcher Dr. Horacio de la Iglesia conducted a study in rural Argentina where participants wore bracelets that tracked how much they slept and compared the data to the moon cycle. Around three days before the full moon, participants got less sleep. They went to bed later and woke up earlier. This study is that it was conducted on rural communities, where electricity was scarce and people often relied on the sun and moon as sources of light. It makes sense that with less electricity, the natural light would regulate the body's circadian rhythm and that those without electricity would be more sensitive to changes in light.

Dr. Iglesia conducted this study again on a group of students from the University of Washington. Although Seattle is an urban city, the same results applied: students got less sleep closer to the full moon.

To represent this data, I have designed two friendship bracelets. I chose friendship bracelets for two reasons: 1) bracelets were used to track sleep in the studies, and 2) friendship bracelets represent a sense of community and connectedness.

This first bracelet is a representation of the study. There are 3 different bead colors: green, yellow, and red. Green is 8+ hours of sleep, yellow is 6-8 hours of sleep, and red is 6 hours or less of sleep. There are 28 beads total, each representing one day in the lunar cycle. The white circular beads represent the moon phases. As the lunar phase progresses and more light appears in the sky, the amount of sleep decreases.

This second bracelet is a design based on perceived quality of sleep. It's even interactive! The person who wears it can adjust the gold clasp to the numbers, on a scale of 1 to 5. The video below explains it in more depth!

Citation: Kelleher, S. (2021, January 28). Moon Cycles Exert an Influence on Menstruation and Sleep Patterns. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). https://www.aaas.org/news/moon-cycles-exert-influence-menstruation-and-sleep-patterns.

Post created by Sadie Scott

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Effects of moon light on the menstrual cycle - these slides tell you about an important connection between the moon and the human body, and how artificial light can interfere with that connection.

Infographic slides based on the following study: Helfrich-Förster, C., Monecke, S., Spiousas, I., Hovestadt, T., Mitesser, O., Wehr, T. (2021, January 27). Women temporarily synchronize their menstrual cycles with the luminance and gravimetric cycles of the Moon. Science Advances. (Volume 7 Issue 5) DOI:10.1126/sciadv.abe1358

Post created by Zoë Schmidt

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Welcome to Our Blog!

We are 6 students in an Intro to Astronomy class who are using tumblr as a medium for our final project. In this blog, we will be exploring the impact of the moon on the human body. Specifically: how does the moon impact hormones, menstrual cycles, and sleep cycles? Each group member will be posting their research in a different media format. Enjoy the project :)

~ Sadie, Lindsey, Abby, Zoë, Charli, and Matthew