Revisiting an ancient legend: influence of the lunar cycle on occurrence of first-ever unprovoked seizures

Abstract

Background: The mythical effect of the lunar cycle on seizures has been debated over time. Previously healthy individuals presenting with first-ever seizures in whom investigations are negative often invoke questions about potential reasons including a full moon. Aims: To determine whether there is a temporal relationship between the occurrence of the first-ever unprovoked seizure and the lunar cycle. Methods: We studied adults who presented with a first-ever unprovoked seizure to two tertiary centres in Australia. Seizure onset time was obtained from the emergency department and ambulance documentations. We used Poisson regression modelling and incidence rate ratios (IRR) to determine wheth..