Laughter really is good medicine

August 29, 2009

Jack Rutherford The Richmond Register Sat Aug 29, 2009, 10:07 PM EDT

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” Proverbs.

Even back then, Solomon, or whoever wrote the Proverbs, was onto something. Today, scientists are learning more about the medicinal value of laughter. Evidence from a Japanese study showed that laughing can help stabilize blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. Researchers found that compared to listening to a lecture, laughing at a comic video leveled the spikes in blood glucose that often occur after meals.

Other evidence of the benefits of laughter comes from the psychiatric literature. It is well known that people with chronic anxiety, anger and depression have multiple physiological problems. Indeed, anger and depression have been linked to heart disease and gastrointestinal problems often result from anxiety. How is this connected to laughter? Simply that humans cannot experience both emotional distress and emotional uplifting at the same time. In other words, laugh and you can’t simultaneously be anxious or depressed. Even if you’re generally feeling anxious, a short bout of laughter can lessen the impact of that negative emotion.

So, it seems laughter can be therapeutic. That’s because it’s a physical response to humor, according to Steven Sultanoff, professor of psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and a recognized authority on the therapeutic uses of humor. “Muscles contract, blood flow increases, breathing rate speeds up and circulation increases.” The alternate contraction and relaxation of muscles makes most people feel good when they laugh. Actually, the tense-release technique is a standard form of relaxation therapy—minus the laughter. Laughter can even increase pain tolerance. Sultanoff says he listens to Robin Williams’ tapes on the way to the dentist.

Want more reasons to laugh? Laughter increases the “happy” brain chemicals known as endorphins. It reduces levels of cortisol, the stress hormone that’s linked to many health problems including the deposit of fat in the abdominal area. Laughter also lowers the impact of inflammation, a process associated with heart disease, arthritis, allergies and other conditions.

Not only that, you burn more calories when you laugh. So, go ahead and have a laugh or two.

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