From: Robin Raphael Simke (sfmaidl@sirius.com)
Date: Tue Jan 25 2000 - 16:46:06 PST
Subject: Re: Pinhole Digest #335 - 01/25/00 Date: Tue, 25 Jan 00 16:46:06 -0800 From: Robin Raphael Simke <sfmaidl@sirius.com> Message-Id: <E12DGYi-00028f-00@mongoose.slip.net>
>2. Is there any sort of scientific explanation for why women's menstrual
>cycles often line up with lunar cycles?
SERIOUSLY, Geoff, There have been many studies on this very subject.
Most of them have been done, as you might imagine, to respond to womens'
concerns about irregular cycles, fertility and ovulation. Many of them
deal with the effect of the amount and wavelengths of light on the body.
Some women use 40-watt lightbulbs and a light/dark regimen to simulate
lunar phases and change/regulate/maintain monthly cycles at home.
Something to do with the pineal and pituitary glands, which control
endocrine and reproductive functions, being affected by different
wavelenths of light. I've heard that in Zambia homes are constructed
with a special opening in the roof so that the moon's light can enter
(seems a bit odd, as I think the opening would have to be pretty large,
to allow the light in for a long enough time). If all this sounds like
hocus-pocus, just remember that farmers leave the lights on in the
chicken coops to increase egg production in the winter. Hmmm...I wonder
what all our fluorescent/computer/city lights are doing to us??? You
might find the following references useful:
Heath and Light, by John Ott
Body Time, by Gay Gear Luce
Lunaception, by Louise Lacey
Robin Raphael Simke
robin@alum.calberkeley.org
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