In face of these astounding facts, one might suspect that the Moon can have a substantial effect on people as well. The belief that humans (and animals) are strongly affected by our pale satellite is widespread, and it emerges in folklore, urban legends and myths from around the world. The term "lunatic", for example, derives from the Latin for "moonstruck" (in italian and spanish "Luna" means "Moon"), as people used to think that epilepsy and madness were disease caused by the moon itself. Werewolves are another moon-inspired legend. Reality is that the physical effect due to the Moon' gravitational attraction is important for large bodies (like oceans) but it's negligible for humans or animals.  An ocean facing closer to the moon,  is being pulled more than the ocean on the far side of the planet. But for humans, this effect of tides are negligible: There is no measurable difference in the moon's gravitational effect to one side of your body vs. the other. Put it differently, when you walk your dog under a full moon, your dog's gravitational pull result in tidal forces on your body that are actually stronger than the Moon's. This is because, despite the fact your dog is not nearly as massive as the moon, the strength of tidal forces decreases as the inverse cube of the distance between objects. And the moon is quite far, more than 200,000 miles away. Yes, your Great Dane pulls much stronger! Back to the ideas that the moon has an effect on living things at the Earth's surface,  studies comparing the lunar phases to births, heart attacks, deaths, suicides, violence, psychiatric hospital admissions and epileptic seizures, among other things, have over and over again found little or no connection.  This said,  researchers found that on days surrounding full moons, dogs have a 28% higher chance of visiting the emergency room. The exact cause was not determined, although a possibility is that taking fido out during a full moon is definitely charming, but also increases the chance of getting him hurt. You know, carried away by a moonlight shadow...