Sometimes a giggle is just what the doctor ordered
You always have it with you. It doesn’t cost anything and, it doesn’t need to be injected with a needle.
Scientists have proven that laughter, if not the best medicine, plays a key role in keeping us healthy and helping us deal with illness or medical conditions. And, the heartier the laugh, the greater its benefit.
Modern medical research has shown that laughter is beneficial and good medicine for your heart and soul.
• A temporary increase in heart rate, improvement in blood circulation, breathing and muscle tone. These sound like some of the benefits of physical exercise;
• Lowered blood pressure and pulse rate. These benefits help prevent and cope with hypertension;
• Pain and stress reduction. This is often accompanied by less dependency on medication and shortened recuperation time from illness and surgical procedures. Laughter can also reduce emotional pain;
• Muscle relaxation. This can ease tension and even break the spasm-pain cycle of rheumatism and neuralgia;
• Increased ventilation and blood oxygen level. This can help people with emphysema and other respiratory illnesses;
• Stimulation of the immune system. One researcher found that watching a humorous video caused an increase in interferon-gamma, which boosts your immune system;
• Sharpened mental functions. Jokes require attention. Word-plays can keep the mind busy. Humour can stimulate the release of adrenalin and electrical activity within the brain;
• Decrease in anxiety. It is difficult, if not impossible, to laugh and be afraid at the same time;
• Increased ability to cope. Being able to laugh with gusto can help people get through tough times, cope with the loss of good health, overcome grief and get on with their lives;
• Induction of playfulness. Laughter can help people “regress” into a spirit of fun and adventure.
Dr. William Fry, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University Medical School and humour researcher says, “The scientific world has examined humour and has found that mirthful laughter has an effect on most of the major physiologic systems of the body.”
Laughter also stimulates the brain, ventilates lungs and raises heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and circulation. That’s why 100 laughs a day is equivalent to the physical benefits you get from riding a bike for 15 minutes or spending 10 minutes on the rowing machine. “It’s a total body experience,” says Dr. Fry.
According to one Loma Linda University study, 30 minutes after 20 medical students laughed through a video of a well-known comedian, their disease-fighting white blood cells increased by 25%.
The immune system is affected in two ways: one, laughter increases the concentration of circulating antibodies in the blood stream; and two, it increases the concentration of circulating white blood cells to combat foreign proteins. These changes make you more resistant to developing infection. It doesn’t mean you won’t get the infection, but it increases your resistance.
So, when your doctor or friend tells you to “Lighten up,” don’t worry and heed their advice ‘cause it’s good for you.
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