Astonishing: What is connection between full moon and hospital ERs?

 

There is a weird superstition among healthcare experts which is connected with the full moon nights and the unusual occurrences at the hospitals. But is there any credence to it?

While speaking to the New York Post, as Tuesday’s moon approaches, Dr John Becher of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and formerly AtlantiCare in Atlantic City, New Jersey said that “everybody talks about it.”

Becher maintained: "Sometimes [hospital workers] come in at 7pm and say, ‘Better brace up, you know it’s full moon,’ in expectation it’s going to happen. And sure enough, it does."

According to him, for many years he also witnessed a surge of patients in the hospital for chronic, emotional, and psychiatric problems when the nights have a full moon.

The report also noted that the word "lunatic" has its origins in Latin which means "moonstruck". While it seems a little unusual, there are studies quoted that corroborate the claims.

A research paper named "Popular belief meets surgical reality: impact of lunar phases, Friday the 13th and zodiac signs on emergency operations and intraoperative blood loss," published in a peer-reviewed journal World Journal of Surgery found that phases of the moon impact the behaviour of 40% of health workers.

Dr Frederic Kip Wenger, the former chairman of emergency medicine at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, maintained: "It’s not unusual to have somebody with these delusions of grandeur and tales of ‘I’ve met Jesus.'"

He also agreed with some incidents related to Full Moon recalling one of his toughest peers breaking down after a patient’s foot fell off when they tried removing his shoe.

Despite the superstition, Wenger doesn’t believe in this, but there was another study by AIMS Public health that could not disregard what so many medical professionals believe from experience.