Laughter & Good Health
Proverbs 17:22 (NIV) A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
AMP: A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
* Laughter Therapy: What Happens When We Laugh?
We change physiologically when we laugh. We stretch muscles throughout our face and body, our pulse and blood pressure go up, and we breathe faster, sending more oxygen to our tissues.
One pioneer in laughter research, William Fry, claimed it took ten minutes on a rowing machine for his heart rate to reach the level it would after just one minute of hearty laughter.
Maciej Buchowski, a researcher from Vanderbilt University, conducted a small study in which he measured the amount of calories expended in laughing. It turned out that 10-15 minutes of laughter burned 50 calories.
* Laughter's Effects on the Body
In the last few decades, researchers have studied laughter's effects on the body and turned up some potentially interesting information on how it affects us:
Blood flow. Researchers at the University of Maryland studied the effects on blood vessels when people were shown either comedies or dramas. After the screening, the blood vessels of the group who watched the comedy behaved normally – expanding and contracting easily. But the blood vessels in people who watched the drama tended to tense up, restricting blood flow.
Immune response. Increased stress is associated with decreased immune system response, says Provine. Some studies have shown that the ability to use humor may raise the level of infection-fighting antibodies in the body and boost the levels of immune cells, as well.
Blood sugar levels. One study of 19 people with diabetes looked at the effects of laughter on blood sugar levels. After eating, the group attended a tedious lecture. On the next day, the group ate the same meal and then watched a comedy. After the comedy, the group had lower blood sugar levels than they did after the lecture.
Relaxation and sleep. The focus on the benefits of laughter really began with Norman Cousin's memoir, Anatomy of an Illness. Cousins, who was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a painful spine condition, found that a diet of comedies, like Marx Brothers films and episodes of Candid Camera, helped him feel better. He said that ten minutes of laughter allowed him two hours of pain-free sleep.
Laughter can be therapeutic. Many cancer patients try humor therapy as part of their treatment, and are able to better cope with cancer and cancer treatment because of the jolt of laughter they add to their lives. Children who laugh during painful medical procedures may be able to tolerate pain better. And they don't even have to laugh out loud to feel the soothing benefits.
Here are some tips to help you put more laughter in your life:
• Figure out what makes you laugh and do it (or read it or watch it) more often.
• Surround yourself with funny people -- be with them every chance you get.
• Develop your own sense of humor. Maybe even take a class to learn how to be a better comic -- or at least a better joke-teller at that next party. Be funny every chance you get -- as long as it's not at someone else's expense!
*Source: WebMD
No comments:
Post a Comment