Laughter, the Best Medicine

Growing up, the Readers’ Digest was a common publication in our house. I remember reading the “Laughter” section religiously. It did always get a smile or a chuckle out of me. So, 40 years later, there has been more discussion and study about the good health impacts of “laughter”….the health of the things we do for fun, happiness, joy, and laughter. I am not sure when Readers’ Digest added this most popular feature of the magazine, but it is not an old concept. I found another article by the same title published in 1908 in The Washington Post. 

So, for a concept that has we have been talking about for a century, why does it seem that we don’t take this “funny” health source seriously. Well, please read on and consider adding a dose to your daily routine. With all of this history, and a bit more recent scientific evidence, we felt compelled to give some airtime to “fun” as our seventh key to life-long health. 

The health impacts of “fun” and happiness are really quite straight forward. The mind and the body ARE integrated. When we are happy in our mind, there are chemical and physical reactions in our body which are beneficial to us. 

Scientific studies over the past decade have shown positive impact of laughter on health. One such study was conducted by the University of Maryland in 2005.

Here is a summary of that research:

ORLANDO — Want a healthy heart? Eat your veggies, exercise and have a good laugh — and that's no joke. A study out Monday found for the first time that laughter relaxes blood vessels, boosting blood flow.

Scores of studies have shown a link between a person's mental state and his or her health.Michael Miller, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, theorized that laughter might promote healthier arteries by reducing mental stress, which has been shown to constrict blood vessels and reduce blood flow.

A total of 160 blood vessel measurements were performed before and after the laughter and mental-stress phases of the study, Miller reported at the American College of Cardiology meeting here. The study found that the light-hearted movie reliably relaxed the blood vessels and increased blood flow in 19 of the 20 volunteers.

The reactions were probably prompted by the release of nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels much like the endorphins released during exercise.

"When you laugh, you have less wear on your joints, and you don't have to worry about calories from chocolate," Miller said.

"A good belly laugh a day would be a big step toward heart health." 

So, the punch line of the story? The topic of laughter being good for us has been written about for so many years, because it IS based on fact…..even if scientific studies had not yet been conducted in 1908.