For centuries the full moon has been attributed the cause of epilepsy. This disease, which is characterized by the seizures it causes, has even been called "mole disease" , and those who suffered from it, "lunatics".
Thus, Saint Matthew used this term to refer to an epileptic healed by Jesus. Already in the third century, in his Liber medicinalis, Quinto Sereno blamed a deity for this disease who acted as revenge through the Moon.
Although there is certainly no relationship between the two phenomena, among the most absurd "theories" that attribute to our satellite the development of these evils, one goes so far as to explain that as the moon heats the atmosphere, the brain partially melts, which causes an attack.
A more ingenious hypothesis, announced in 1999 by CL Raison of the Department of Psychiatry of the Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University of California, establishes that before the arrival of electric light, the moon was an important source of nocturnal illumination that affected the cycle of the sleep-wake, especially when it was full. This phenomenon, according to Raison, may have been enough to induce mania in some people with certain disorders. With the advent of electricity, the effect would have disappeared, especially in cities.
