Feeling sleepy? It’s no secret that a good night’s sleep is key to a good day. Yet, according to the Institute of Medicine, an estimated 50-70 million adults in the United States have sleep difficulties.
These side effects include loss of memory, heightened anger, food cravings, hallucinations and loss of memory. Wait, did I already say that?
http://www.iflscience.com/brain/what-happens-your-brain-when-you-don-t-sleep
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Tomi Engdahl says:
How the Moon Messes With Your Sleep
A new look at old data gives credence to a long-suspected phenomenon
http://science.time.com/2013/07/25/how-the-moon-messes-with-your-sleep/
We are all, quite literally, lunatics—and I mean that in the nicest way possible. It is the moon, after all, that is responsible for the luna part of that word—and the moon has always made us at least a little crazy. Over our long history we have been charmed by it, spooked by it, seduced by it.
The human menstrual cycle is the best-known example of the way our bodies—over millions of years of evolution—have synchronized themselves to the rhythms of the moon. Less well-known is the lunar link to the electrochemistry of the brain in epileptic patients, which changes in the few days surrounding a new moon, making seizures more likely. And then there are the anecdotal accounts of the effects the moon has on sleep
People have long reported that it is harder to get to sleep and remain asleep when the moon is full, and even after a seemingly good night’s rest, there can be a faint sluggishness—a sort of full-moon hangover—that is not present on other days. If you’re sleeping on the prairie or in a settler’s cabin with no shades, the simple presence of moonlight is an inescapable explanation. But long after humans moved indoors into fully curtained and climate-controlled homes, the phenomenon has remained. What’s never been clear is whether it’s the real deal—if the moon really does mess with us–or if it’s some combination of imagination and selective reporting, with people who believe in lunar cycles seeing patterns where none exist. Now, a report in the journal Current Biology suggests that the believers have been right all along.
On average, the subjects in the study took five minutes longer to fall asleep on the three or four nights surrounding a full moon and they slept for 20 fewer minutes. In addition, EEG activity related to deep sleep fell 30%, melatonin levels were lower and the subjects reported feeling less refreshed the next day than on other days. The subjects slept in a completely darkened lab with no sight of the moon, and none of them—at least from what was known—appeared to have given any thought at all to lunar cycles.
In terms of scientific reliability, all of this is both good and not so good. A study can’t get more effectively double-blind
Even if the moon has as significant an effect on sleep as the study suggests, what’s less clear is the mechanism behind it. Dark labs eliminate the variable of light, so that can’t be it. And before you ask, no, it’s not gravity either.
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982213007549
Tomi Engdahl says:
Full Moon Insomnia: Does The Moon Affect Your Sleep?
https://www.nosleeplessnights.com/full-moon-insomnia/