Laughter Is Good Medicine!

You have probably noticed that you feel a lot better after a good belly laugh. The problem is that your sense of humor generally abandons you just when you need it the most - when you get sick.

New evidence suggests that you may want to consider laughter as part of your comprehensive wellness program. It not only boosts your mood, but it also revs up your immune system, protects your heart, lowers blood pressure, reduces pain, improves lung capacity and provides a general sense of well-being. A good belly laugh also reduces stress hormones in your body.

Humor and Healing

The mere fact that you feel better after a good laugh should lead you to conclude that humor must be good for you. But research now confirms that your sense of humor promotes physical health. Clinical studies over the last 20 years have demonstrated that laughter plays an important role in healing. As a result, hospitals and health care organizations are initiating a number of humor-related programs, ranging from "laughter channels" on TV to visits by clowns.

Presbyterian Inter community Hospital in Whittier, CA has trained 25 clowns with the mission of putting smiles on the faces of its patients. "We have discovered that clown therapy works," says hospital President and CEO Daniel F. Adams..

Immune System Enhancement

Whether or not you get sick depends on your body's ability to fight off disease. Research has proven that positive emotions such as laughter enhance your immune response.

According to Dr. Lee S Berk of Loma Linda University in California, laughter helps increase the count of white cells and also raises the antibody levels. After "laughter therapy" he noticed an increase in antibodies in the nose and respiratory passages which are believed to have a protective capacity against some viruses and bacteria.

In a BBC article about laughter and hospital treatment, researchers found that the healing power of humor reduced pain and stimulated immune function in children with cancer, AIDS and diabetes and in children receiving organ transplants and bone marrow transplants.

High Blood Pressure and Heart Disease

Those who suffer from heart disease may discover that laughter can improve their blood circulation and oxygen supply to their heart muscles.

The most astonishing evidence of the power of laughter comes from a 1997 study of 48 heart-attack patients whose therapy included 30 minutes of laughter a day. After a year, ten patients in the control group had suffered repeat heart attacks, compared to only two in the group that watched comedies.

Another study demonstrated a drop of 10-20mm pressure after patients participated for 20 minutes in a laughter session

Pain Reduction

Laughter increases the level of endorphins, which are natural pain killers found in your body.

Norman Cousins drew the attention of the medical community to the pain-reducing power of laughter in his book Anatomy of an Illness. He discovered while watching comedy films that belly laughter eased his pain and noted that ten minutes of belly laughter gave him two hours of pain-free sleep. Over a dozen studies have now documented that humor does have the power to reduce pain for many people.

In one study, people listening to Lily Tomlin joking about the phone company were less sensitive to pain than those who listened to an academic lecture. Another study showed that when elderly residents in a long-term care facility watched funny movies, the level of pain they experienced was reduced. In a third study of 35 patients in a rehabilitation hospital, 74% agreed with the statement, "Sometimes laughing works as well as a pain pill."

"A clown is like an aspirin, only he works twice as fast."

                                                                   

Respiratory Relief

Laughter is one of the best exercises if you suffer from asthma and bronchitis. It improves your lung capacity and oxygen levels in your blood. Doctors often recommend chest physiotherapy to bring out mucous from the respiratory passages, and blowing forcefully into an instrument or blowing balloons is one of the common exercises given to asthmatics. However, laughter does the same job, but more easily and cheaply.

Stress Relief

When confronted with a threatening situation, animals have two choices: they can fight or they can flee. You have a third choice: you can laugh. Humor may be one of the best antidotes to stress. You cannot laugh and worry at the same time!

Lee Berk, M.D., Ph.D., has conducted studies showing that laughter can fend off many of the physiological effects of stress, including those caused by the hormones cortisol and epinephrine, which can trigger increased blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar.

Prolonged and chronic stress can suppress your immune system, increasing your risk for viral infections and even tumors. According to Dr. Berk, the positive biological effects of a single one-hour session of viewing a funny video can last from 12 to 24 hours.

"Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress," says Dr. Berk. Heart disease patients are often given drugs called beta-blockers specifically to block these hormones. "Laughter can do that same thing," says Berk. "And it's a lot more fun."

What You Can Do

Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful healing tools you have, and laughter may be one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. You may want to consider adding a hardy laugh to your disease prevention program by

* Actively seeking out things that make you laugh;

* Taking in regular doses of funny movies, books and videos;

* Cutting out newspaper comics that make you laugh and posting them on

   your refrigerator;

* Finding a funny saying to repeat to yourself when things get tough;

* Telling a joke;

* Laughing at yourself;

* Looking for the funny side of events;

* Trying to use humor to handle anxiety;

* Hanging out with happy people.