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Brief Communication| Volume 5, ISSUE 4, P596-597, August 2004

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The influence of the full moon on seizure frequency: myth or reality?

  • Selim R. Benbadis
    Correspondence
    Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University of South Florida, 4 Columbia Drive, Suite 730, Tampa, FL 33606, USA. Fax: 1-813-259-0858
    Affiliations
    Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, University of South Florida (Colleges of Medicine and Public Health) and Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA
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  • Stanley Chang
    Affiliations
    Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, University of South Florida (Colleges of Medicine and Public Health) and Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA
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  • Joel Hunter
    Affiliations
    Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, University of South Florida (Colleges of Medicine and Public Health) and Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA
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  • Wei Wang
    Affiliations
    Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, University of South Florida (Colleges of Medicine and Public Health) and Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA
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      Abstract

      To investigate a possible relationship between seizure frequency and the lunar cycle, we reviewed the occurrence of seizures recorded in our epilepsy monitoring unit over a 3-year period. Analysis of the total number of seizures (epileptic plus nonepileptic) showed no significant association. A separate analysis revealed that for nonepileptic seizures, there was an increase at the full moon, and for epileptic seizures, an increase in the last quarter. We conclude that there is no “full moon” effect on seizures as a whole, although there is a possible effect on nonepileptic seizures.

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