Do men have a monthly cycle?

Question

I recall reading an article, many years ago, in the New Scientist concerning a study into the effect of the lunar cycle on men. It was suggested that some men showed a physical response, such as a change in the rate of beard growth.

I don't know if it was part of the NS article, but this has obvious links with werewolf stories.

I have a kind of wish for this to be true. It seems feasible that some response to the moon should exist in men as well as women, given our evolution in the presence of that near neighbour.

Edit, further information:

While the orbital period of the Moon is 27.322 days, Wolfram Research state that the mean time for one lunar phase cycle (i.e., the synodic period of the Moon) is 29.530589 days.

An article on the Biology Online website cites research into lunar influence on animals and plants. This does not specifically mention the influence on men but, more generally, animals.

I think it confuses the question to bring up the moon. It's still valid to ask if men, like women, have biological cycles of about that length. It's certainly possible. I'd be interested to know. — Mike Dunlavey, Mar 12 '11 at 18:06
@Mike. Good point. Perhaps I should have left the question more open-ended, but my own (unscientific) view is that it is likely the Moon affects Life on Earth beyond the sea tides. With this in mind, and in response to other answers here, I've added references to Moon period data and research into effects on animals. If this confuses things further, I guess the question may be closed :( — , Mar 13 '11 at 10:59
"Men’s testosterone appears to cycle throughout the day, month, and possibly even the seasons, affecting their moods and sexual desire. ... But what about men? Do they have hormonal cycles too? Some hormones researchers say no; men don’t cycle. Others say yes, but their cycles are less studied and less dramatic than women’s. Men’s testosterone cycles fluctuate from higher in the morning to lower each evening, and, according to some ... studies, the hormone level fluctuates seasonally as well, peaking in October and ebbing in April" http://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/03/hormones.aspx — A E, Mar 02 '15 at 23:34

Dan Herbert · Answer 1 · 2011-03-12T17:15:28.137

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The lunar cycle has no effect on human behavior in any way. No scientific study ever conducted has shown any correlation between the moon cycles and any human activity.

See Wikipedia's article on the Lunar Effect for a good summary of studies conducted:

Psychologist Ivan Kelly of the University of Saskatchewan (with James Rotton and Roger Culver) did a meta-analysis of thirty-seven studies that examined relationships between the moon's four phases and human behavior in 1996. The meta-analysis revealed no significant correlation. They also checked twenty-three studies that had claimed to show correlation, and nearly half of these contained at least one statistical error. ¹

^{1: Kelly, Ivan; Rotton, James; Culver, Roger (1986), "The Moon Was Full and Nothing Happened: A Review of Studies on the Moon and Human Behavior", Skeptical Inquirer 10 (2): 129–43. Reprinted in The Hundredth Monkey - and other paradigms of the paranormal, edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books. Revised and updated in The Outer Edge: Classic Investigations of the Paranormal, edited by Joe Nickell, Barry Karr, and Tom Genoni, 1996, CSICOP.}

edited Mar 12 '11 at 17:15

answered Mar 12 '11 at 00:51

Dan Herbert

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How is this relevant? He is talking about beard growth and you're talking about human behavior. – Borror0 Mar 12 '11 at 04:01
@Borror0 He asked about physical response. Beard growth was just one example. And even with beard growth, the force of gravity exerted by your bed pillow is stronger than the moon's gravity, so the one possible influence the moon could have is pretty irrelevant. – Dan Herbert Mar 12 '11 at 05:09
Please improve this answer by using better citations than wikipedia – Sklivvz Mar 12 '11 at 12:20
See http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/132/list-of-useful-sources-for-skeptics-se : "[sites like wikipedia] are not deemed reliable enough to justify a statement". – Sklivvz Mar 12 '11 at 14:36
@Sklivvz It should be implied that Wikipedia is not a reliable source. However, the article I linked to *uses* reliable sources and compiles those sources in a manner which is accessible for the general public who, I assume, will be most likely stumble upon this answer in the future. – Dan Herbert Mar 12 '11 at 14:59
@Dan, just like almost *any* other wikipedia article. There's nothing wrong with linking to Wikipedia, but as a single source supporting an answer it's too weak for this site (as agreed in meta). If you specifically want to point out at the wikipedia sources, then point to them, not only to the article which may be changed at any point in time, is not peer-reviewed, etc. – Sklivvz Mar 12 '11 at 15:15
@Dan "the force of gravity exerted by your bed pillow is stronger than the moon's gravity" Ocean tides aren't caused by bed pillows... – Jason Plank Mar 13 '11 at 02:33
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@SKlivvz: Double standards? Here is a posting with 3 citations of wikipedia: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/421/are-there-any-ghosts-captured-on-photos/425#425 plus Photoshop Disasters. Other sources may as well be unavailable in the future - wikipedia is at least easily available now. – user unknown Mar 13 '11 at 02:59
@user: this is not the place for these discussions. I was merely linking to definitions, in order to give context, and certainly not backing up my assertions via wikipedia. Citing meta again: "[sites like wikipedia] are not deemed reliable enough to **justify a statement**" – Sklivvz Mar 13 '11 at 07:48
@Jason The moon's influence on the ocean is a phenomenon that only works at extremely large scales. At the scale of your bedroom, most objects in your room have a stronger gravitational pull. See Neil deGrasse Tyson's speech from TAM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVk-2XAd-kI – Dan Herbert Mar 13 '11 at 22:54
@Dan He mentions "the pressure from the pillow [leaning] on your head is a trillion times greater than the tidal force of the moon across your cranium"... Hardly supports the hypothesis that the pillow has a greater **gravitational** force. He simply meant that the weight of the pillow on earth exceeds the moon's gravitational force exerted on your head. – Jason Plank Mar 14 '11 at 16:07
@Dan Assuming mass of head = 5 kg, mass of pillow = 1 kg, mass of moon = 7.36 x 10^22 kg, distance (head-pillow) = 10 cm, distance (head-moon) = 378,047 km: grav. force (head-pillow) = 3.3350 x 10^-8 N, grav. force (head-moon) = 1.7174 x 10^-4 N. (All distances center-to-center, using ballpark figures.) – Jason Plank Mar 14 '11 at 16:26
@Dan: Did all the studies just concentrate on few whole days which felt into the phase of full moon? Or did they only examine the night, where the surface which was measured directed towards the moon? – user unknown Mar 14 '11 at 18:37
This answer currently cites "Skeptical Inquirer," which is not a scientific journal. – Avery Sep 26 '17 at 12:54
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This doesn't really answer the question. – Sep 26 '17 at 13:49
"No scientific study ever conducted has shown any correlation between the moon cycles and any human activity." That's a quite ridiculous claim. Before artificial lighting, nighttime activity was *much* more common during a full moon. – Acccumulation Sep 29 '17 at 01:33
No correlation established (yet) doesn't mean no effect. Science 101. Correlation is not causality. Science 102. – Tom Oct 02 '17 at 09:30
@Acccumulation: Though you're correct that a full moon enabled nighttime activities that were othewise impossible, it's arguable to count this phenomenon as "scientifically proven" compared to "historically correct". The increased activity is also not really an effect (i.e. direct consequence), it simple **gave people the option** to do something at night. The majority of people would still sleep during a full moon, they did not in any way feel more energetic. It's just that the light of a full moon enables **those who already wished to undertake nightly activities** to actually do so. – Flater Oct 02 '17 at 14:06

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 12 '11 at 12:51

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While women do have something like a monthly cycle it's not linked to the moon. The mean cycle length is 29.1 days while the moon cycle is 27.3 days.

Even if there would be a monthly cycle among men it's therefore unlikely that it would sync with the moon. It would make much more sense if a possible monthly cycle would sync with the cycle of a nearby female.

answered Mar 12 '11 at 12:51

Christian

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I've added some reference links to my original question, including one to a source stating that the average period of the moon is **29.5 days**. There's also an article on the moon's effects on animal and plant life. – Mar 13 '11 at 10:26
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@Zzzzzzz123: The moon cirles around the earth, and together with the earth around the sun. So while the orbit is 27.3 days, the angle towards the sun is about 360°/12 off after one month which explains while a mooncyle is about 2 days longer. See the picture below. – user unknown Jun 16 '15 at 01:08
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The question is whether men have a monthly cycle like women. You don't answer that. – Sep 26 '17 at 13:51
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@user unknown: you seem to be suggesting that the amount of light that the moon reflects would somehow be less important than some abstract notion of its "orbit". – Acccumulation Sep 29 '17 at 01:36

Do men have a monthly cycle?

2 Answers2