Yes, It Is the Best Medicine

by Molly M. Ginty

Andrea Behrens has the giggles, and she knows they’re good for her health.

"Since joining a weekly laughter club last June, I’ve been able to control my allergies and breathe much easier," says Behrens, a financial analyst in New York City. "Research shows that the exercises we do as a group — laughing hello, laughing goodbye, and inventing songs made of ‘ha ha ha’ sounds — could help me lower my blood pressure and maybe even my weight."

A growing number of Americans are joining laughter clubs, and it’s not just for the yucks. Recent research shows that laughter has a whole host of health benefits, from reducing stress hormones to strengthening the immune system. "It relaxes your muscles, opens your arteries, and improves blood flow to your heart," says Steve Wilson, founder of the World Laughter Tour, a Columbus, Ohio, training program for laughter therapy group leaders. "It gives you a cardiovascular workout, helps you metabolize sugar, and releases endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers."

How did laughter — which chimpanzees mimic during rough play and which babies start enjoying at age three months — become the latest health trend? Since Tibetan monks started practicing laughter meditation some 5,000 years ago, health advocates have long known that a good belly laugh is great medicine. Norman Cousins popularized the idea with his 1979 book Anatomy of an Illness, in which he described how watching Marx Brothers movies helped him beat a life-threatening joint disease. The New York-based Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit starting sending clowns to hospital wards in the 1980s, and the Association for Applied Therapeutic Humor opened in Aliso Viejo, California, shortly thereafter. Indian physician Dr. Madan Kataria — known as the "Guru of Giggling"—fueled this growing movement in the 1990s by founding laughter therapy groups that spread to Asia, Europe, and North America.

In the past decade, however, laughter as medicine has become especially popular thanks to lab studies proving it has positive effects. Scientists now know that laughter can:

Promote Heart Health
Researchers at Baltimore’s University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) found that people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh in certain situations than people without heart disease.

Improve Blood Flow
UMMC scientists also found that laughter causes the endothelium (the tissue that lines the blood vessels) to expand, increasing blood flow 22 percent. "Laughter helps with coagulation, blood thickening, and the whole vascular system," says lead researcher Dr. Michael Miller, M.D., head of UMMC’s Center for Preventative Cardiology.

Keep You Svelte
According to studies done at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, laughing increases energy expenditure and heart rate by up to 20 percent — and laughing for 10 to 15 minutes a day can help you drop four pounds per year.

"If done vigorously, laughter can burn 300 to 400 calories per hour," says Francine Shore, founder of the Grabbagiraffe Laughter Club in New York City. That’s more than walking (180 calories per hour), cycling (240 calories), or even high-energy dancing (270 calories).

Boost Immunity
Studies at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine in Loma Linda, California, show that laughter increases the number of natural killer cells (NK white blood cells) while raising antibody levels, providing protection against viruses and bacteria. Laughter also reduces levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that interferes with the body’s immune response.

Ease Pain
According to studies conducted at Arizona State University (ASU), patients are better able to manage and conquer pain with positive frame of mind. "All other things being equal, how rapidly people recover from an operation depends upon their attitude and thus their sense of humor," says ASU psychology professor and lead researcher Dr. Alex Zautra.

As if these findings weren’t cause enough for celebration, experts say that giggles and guffaws don’t have to be genuine to have a positive effect. "The body doesn’t know the difference between simulated and spontaneous laughter," says Shore. "Even if you fake laughter, the body still responds in a positive way."

Supporting the old adage that laughter is contagious, the body responds best to laughter when it’s shared. That’s why a growing number of hospitals and health care centers are hiring World Laughter Tour graduates to work with their patients in groups. "Get one person in a room chuckling, and everyone else can’t help but start," says Robin Adler, who coordinates a laughter therapy group for patients at the Seattle Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center.

So regardless of what ailments you may face — from short-term viruses to chronic health conditions — remember to treat them with laughter shared with friends and family. "It really does appear to be the best medicine," says Dr. Miller. So snicker. Chortle. Crack up! Let loose. In the words of Proverbs 17:22, "a cheerful heart is a good medicine" — not only sound spiritual advice, but a prescription for life-long health.

Molly M. Ginty lives in New York. Her work has appeared in Ms., Marie Claire, Redbook, and Women’s eNews.

For more information: Vanderbilt University "Laughter: The Truth behind the Sites" http://healthpsych.psy.vanderbilt.edu/laughter.htm

Article published in Lutheran Woman Today, March 2008