We often hear of the phrase, “laughter is the best medicine”, or the very old proverb, “he who laughs, lasts”. Mort Walker, the creator of the popular 1950 comic strip, Beetle Bailey, quoted a double entendre saying, “Seven days without laughter makes one weak.”

Laughter is has been associated with good health and fine well-being. Laughter, which is traditionally described as an outward expression of inner happiness, is actually being understood as a form of communication. Robert Provine, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Maryland, believes that laughter may be the very first form of communication of the human race, before human language, as it signifies acceptance in the group and a positive contact.

Interestingly, laughter is contagious; a person that laughs will usually trigger another person to laugh, even without knowing the cause of the other person’s laughter. A laugh center in our brain is not identified, but laughter is closely associated with the stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex that causes the release of endorphins, a neurotransmitter responsible for blocking pain and controlling one’s emotion. The lack of endorphins causes one to be unsatisfied, which can result to severe mental illnesses. There are also several health benefits associated with laughter.

• It reduces anger, anxiety, depression and irritation

  Norman Cousins was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that can cause severe body pain. He decided to prescribe himself several doses of humorous videos and comedy shows. In time, his disease went into remission. He published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine about his experience, which eventually was adapted into a medical research by Dr. Lee Berk. According to one study by Berk and his team, looking forward to a mirthful laughter can actually decrease the levels of the stress hormones that are considered to have detrimental effects in the body. These hormones are (1) cortisol, considered as a steroid stress hormone, (2) epinephrine, or adrenaline, and (3) dopac, one of dopamine’s major catabolite. Not only are these hormones detrimental to the immune system, they are also the hormones released by the body when a person experiences anger, anxiety, depression and irritation – responses of fight or flight stimulus.

• It helps burn calories

  Presented in the European Congress of Obesity in 2005 at Athens are the findings that laughter can actually burn calories. The study was made by Maciej Buchowski, PhD of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He and his team studied a pair of couples, 45 pairs all in all, inside a metabolic chamber – a room calorimeter, by showing them series of video clips. Results have shown that 10-15 minutes of hearty laughter can increase the heart rate by 10-20 percent and increase the utilization of energy by 10-40 calories per day. This result can be translated to reduction of four pounds per year. The study may have trivial outcome, but it should be noted that every calorie counts and every movement of a person can have an advantage in losing one’s weight.

• It boosts the immune system.

  According to Dr. Robert Provine in his book, Laughter: A Scientific Investigation, the facility of a person to utilize humor has shown that it can increase the levels of antibodies that are responsible for fighting infection and it can enhance the levels of the immune cells. Laughter can decrease stress levels, and therefore increase the responsiveness of the body’s immune system.

• It protects your heart

  According to the study made by the University of Maryland researchers in 2005, there is a strong correlation between laughter and healthy blood vessels. The study shows that every time a person laughs, the inner lining, or endothelium, of the blood vessels tend to dilate. Dilation of the blood vessels will increase the flow of blood in the body. The theory of the researchers emphasized the function of compounds similar to beta-endorphin which is released by the brain’s hypothalamus. It is able to activate the receptor sites located in the endothelium, directing it to release nitric oxide. Essentially, nitric oxide does not just dilate the blood vessels which are actually advantageous to the functions of the heart; it also has two cardioprotective attributes by reducing inflammation in the body when it is injured, and the reduction of clumping of platelets. Some studies have shown that ten minutes of vigorous laughter causes the lowering of blood pressure by 10-20 mm/Hg that can last up to 20 minutes after laughter has ended.

• It prevents diabetes

  Japanese researcher, Keiko Hayashi, of the University of Tsukuba, Japan, headed an investigation on whether laughter can reduce blood sugar levels or not, in order to find out if there is such a thing as laughter-glucose link in the body. Although the link between laughter and glucose is not explained clearly, the study have shown that both normal individuals and type 2 diabetes sufferers had a reduction in their glucose levels after they watched a comedy show, compared to when they listened to a serious lecture for 40 minutes. Published in Diabetes Care, Hayashi explained that the reduction may also be caused by the energy used when the muscles contract during the act of laughing, or there is actually neuro-endocrine activation that controls the level of blood glucose.

• It strengthens your lungs

  Especially for people who are suffering from diseases of the respiratory system, laughter is helpful in cleaning the lungs. Similar to the effects of deep breathing, laughter can empty the lungs with huge volumes of air. The co-founder of World Laughter Tour, Karyn Buxman, RN, says that laughter makes a person breathe from the deepest place in his lungs. That is why the exercises that were conducted by the World Laughter Tour are devised in such a way that it does not only effectively enhance blood circulation patterns, but it also enhances the breathing pattern of the person.

• It is a natural pain killer.

  Our body has a natural pain killer called endorphins, or “endogenous morphine”.  A study made by two scientists from California has shown that laughter increases the levels of endorphins in the blood by triggering the body to release them. As endorphins increase, they bind to the opioid receptor which results to an analgesic effect, dulling the pain sensations. Compared to morphine extracted from plants, man’s natural endorphins is 80 times more potent in its analgesic properties.

• It lifts up your mood.

  In life, people often experience a downward spiral of the mood, especially when faced with negative thoughts or depressing situations. According to Dana Lightman, PhD, to turn the downward spiral around, people must learn to trick themselves by using humor to create an upward spiral of their moods.  For trained laugh leader Beverly Bender, even a fake laughter can produce similar effect as real laughter. Man’s body does not know the distinction between fake and real laughter. When a person starts with laughter first thing in the morning, he will tend to find reasons to laugh the whole day.

Sources
healthmad.com
livestrong.com
en.wikipedia.org
mc.vanderbilt.edu
psychologytoday.com
women.webmd.com
findarticles.com
szmagazine.com
sciencedaily.com