The idea that the moon exerts some influence on life on Earth may seem hard to believe, especially considering the many myths without scientific basis that have been forged historically on this influence, and among them one of the best known is the werewolf who abandons his human aspect full moon nights.
But we can not forget that, like the circadian cycle marked by the Sun influences many biological questions, the, although much more modest, lunar cycle governs some aspects in various forms of life.
There is a popular belief that a higher number of births occurs during the days surrounding the full moon. This seems to be true in the case of dairy cows studied by a group of University of Tokyo in Japan.
In previous research is conflicting evidence on the lunar cycle affects the timing of human births were found, and many researchers remain unconvinced that our natural satellite influence it even minimally.
In the new study, the team analyzed Tomohiro Yonezawa birth dates Holstein cows genetically similar and raised in standard conditions at a dairy farm in Hokkaido, northern Japan prefecture. The researchers examined records of 428 cows calving produced spontaneously and before or after the proper period of gestation. Analyzed births occurred during a period of three years between September 2011 and August 2013. The situation of the moon in the lunar cycle was found at the time of each birth.
The analysis showed that the birth rate was statistically higher during the period around the full moon and the full moon itself. In addition, the number of births was higher for cows that had already had children previously.
As Yonezawa admits, this curious result may be due to multiple factors such as maternal nutrition, social environment and the genetic base, and therefore the hypothesis of the lunar influence on these animals need evidence more weight.In any case, Yonezawa believed that cows could provide a good model for future research to separate the lunar effect of other factors also influence the birth.
The study results have been released through the journal PLoS ONE.
Reference work is: Yonezawa T, Uchida M, Tomioka M, Matsuki N (2016) Lunar Cycle Influences Spontaneous Delivery in Cows. PLoS ONE 11 (8): e0161735. doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0161735.
