When the moon hits your eye, are you wide awake?

Clay Thompson is off today. Enjoy this “Classic Clay” column from Nov. 16, 2008: oday’s question:

My wife always seems to have trouble sleeping during the full moon. She is very restless. I know the moon affects ocean tides. Can the moon also have an effect on someone’s sleep pattern?

Did you know there is a sleep disorder

Tcalled the exploding head syndrome? People who have this hear a big bang, like crashing cymbals, in their heads just after they fall asleep. That must not be much fun. Anyway, about this moon thing. Apparently it is not unheard of. A few years ago researchers from the Austrian Society for Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research studied the sleep patterns of 391 people. They found 8 percent of those surveyed had problems sleeping during a full moon. On the other hand, 25 percent said they sleep unusually well when the moon is full.

Why a full moon keeps some people awake apparently is a mystery.

Scientists know the gravitational tug of a full moon on the human body is about as strong as a mosquito landing on your skin.

Still there is plenty of anecdotal evidence about people acting weird or being restless under a full moon.

The extra light might keep some folks awake, but you’d think they would just get up and pull the blinds.

A full-moon sleep disorder might be an evolutionary thing going back to our days in the trees. A full moon would have increased the risk of us being eaten by some night prowlers so our ancestors didn’t sleep well when it was bright at night.