School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine , Beijing, China.
Chronobiol Int. 2020 Jun;37(6):935-945. doi: 10.1080/07420528.2019.1696811. Epub 2020 Jul 13.
Stroke is a major cause of death and disability in China, and no therapies have proven effective to prevent it. Popular belief holds that the lunar cycle affects human physiology, behavior, and health. The aim of our study is to determine whether the lunar cycle impacts the incidence of stroke subtypes [intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), transient ischemic attack (TIA) and ischemic stroke (IS)]. We retrospectively extracted the discharge registry data of all patients with first-ever acute stroke hospitalized in the affiliated hospital of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine during 2002-2015. The onset times of stroke were assigned to four primary lunar phases based on NASA definitions. Chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the association between the lunar cycle and stroke incidence with adjustment for age, sex and season. A total of 5,965 patients with stroke (4,909 admissions for ischemic stroke IS, 754 admissions for ICH, and 302 admissions for TIA) were evaluated in our study. Subgroup analysis indicated that the admission rates of different sexes for IS tended to have opposite variation during the four moon phases. More female patients were admitted during the new moon than in the first and third quarters, while fewer male patients were admitted during the new moon than in the first and third quarters (χ2 = 15.589, = .001). Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that men were more likely to be admitted for IS in the first quarter than during the new moon (odds ratio [OR] = 1.252, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.076-1.456) ( = .004), and a corresponding trend was also identified for the third quarter (OR = 1.235, 95% CI = 1.062-1.437) ( = .006). No significant gender differences were shown in ICH or TIA. No sex difference is obvious during the full moon. Moon phases seem to affect both genders, but in very different ways. It seems that the new moon is a protective factor for male ischemic stroke patients and a risk factor for female ones. Woman tends to be more vulnerable than ever at the new moon, so deserves more attention and care. The mechanisms underlying this observation are worth studying further.
中风是中国主要的死亡和致残原因，目前尚无有效的治疗方法。人们普遍认为，月球周期会影响人类的生理、行为和健康。本研究旨在确定月球周期是否会影响中风亚型（脑出血 [ICH]、短暂性脑缺血发作 [TIA] 和缺血性中风 [IS]）的发病情况。我们回顾性地提取了 2002 年至 2015 年期间在北京中医药大学附属医院首次住院的所有急性中风患者的出院登记数据。根据美国宇航局的定义，中风的发病时间被分配到四个主要的月相。卡方检验和多因素逻辑回归分析用于估计月球周期与中风发病率之间的关系，同时调整年龄、性别和季节因素。本研究共评估了 5965 例中风患者（4909 例缺血性中风 IS 入院，754 例 ICH 入院，302 例 TIA 入院）。亚组分析表明，不同性别患者 IS 的入院率在四个月相期间呈相反的变化趋势。在新月时，女性患者的入院人数多于第一和第三季度，而在新月时，男性患者的入院人数少于第一和第三季度（χ2=15.589，=0.001）。多因素逻辑回归分析显示，男性在第一季度比在新月时更有可能因 IS 入院（优势比 [OR] = 1.252，95%置信区间 [CI] = 1.076-1.456）（=0.004），第三季度也存在类似的趋势（OR = 1.235，95% CI = 1.062-1.437）（=0.006）。ICH 或 TIA 无明显性别差异。满月时性别差异不明显。月相似乎对两性都有影响，但方式却截然不同。似乎对于男性缺血性中风患者来说，新月是一个保护因素，而对于女性患者来说则是一个危险因素。女性在新月时似乎比以往任何时候都更加脆弱，因此需要更多的关注和关爱。值得进一步研究这种观察结果的机制。
