Health Benefits of Laughter
Laughter Positively Affects Your Health
By E. Jean Perrins
The most surprising effect laughter has is on the immune system. Laughing stimulates the activity of killer T-cells and improves their numbers, making them more aggressive in fighting viruses and some types of cancer. Laughter seems to be the trigger that turn all kinds of T-cells on.
IgA (Immunoglobulin A), an antibody that fights upper respiratory infections is increased by laughing. Gamma interferon, IgB (immunoglobulin)and Complement 3 are amped up also by laughing. The residual effects of laughing last into the next day. Good news for this cold, flu-fighting weather.
Since the physiological effects of stress constrict blood vessels and suppress the immune system, it is good news indeed that watching a funny sitcom or going to a comedy club will bust stress and release the immune system from its strangle hold. Epinephrine, cortisol and dopamine, the flight or fight and stress hormones, were lowered in people anticipating exposure to humor as well as those actually exposed to it.
Throughout the study, epinephrine, cortisol and dopamine levels remained low, proving that laughter has great benefits as a stress-buster. Dopamine also affects blood pressure and when laughter was present, blood pressure dropped to more normal levels. During the study, women seemed to have a greater blood pressure lowering effect than men.
A good belly laugh is actually aerobic. The deep breathing aspect, along with a good diaphragm workout show the belly laugh’s benefits to increase oxygen available to the body. The lungs are more efficiently emptied during belly laughing, having a greater cleansing effect on the body. The physiological response to a good belly laugh erases stress responses in the body, creating a state of uplifting and positive emotions.
Belly laughs are like an inner jog, they provide internal cardio exercise especially for those who can’t actually jog. When you laugh, the muscles that are involved in the laughing contract then relax, giving your muscles a good work out. When you are finished laughing, your muscles relax, giving you a good relaxation response.
The vibrational frequency of the body actually rises when you are laughing, giving a greater feeling of well-being. The positive emotional state actually enhances treatment of whatever condition is present, making treatment more effective.
In the pain arena, researchers found laughter reduced pain, thus improving the healing process. The distraction that laughter brings is invaluable for patients dealing with pain issues. A study published in the Journal of Holistic Nursing, told of post-operative patients who were told jokes before pain medication was given to them.
Patients exposed to laughter perceived less pain than those who were not exposed to it. Where else can you get something that is free and has no side-effects? The endorphin-creating effect of laughing improves the sense of well-being and makes everyone feel better. What better pastime to create for yourself and your loved ones, it’s cheap, it’s free and it’s healthy.
Jean Perrins is a retired nurse, expert healer and a medical intuitive in private clinical practice. She works with seriously and chronically ill people in addition to those who want to be more than they are. To read more of Jean’s articles visit http://www.jeanperrins.com.
Article Source: ezine articles.
Laughter for Heart Health
Psychoneuroimmunology – Is Laughter a Medicine
By Kenneth Snodin
Research scientists have spent considerable time investigating the effects of laughter. They have found that laughter can help patients recover from illnesses because it tends to lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormone levels, and recharges the body’s immune system. Laughter is also known to release a body’s natural painkilling substances to provide an overall feeling of well-being. This is a result of stimulating blood flow and aiding the heart.
It has been said that laughter has about the same benefits as aerobic exercise, but it comes without the pain sometimes experienced with physical exercise. Laughter also helps to control insulin levels and blood sugars, and while scientists don’t recommend that patients quit their diets or exercise regimens, they do say that laughing definitely helps. Doctors have discovered that laughter also has an effect on viruses, bacteria, cancer and heart disease. They determined that their patients boosted their immune systems just by watching funny videos and movies.
Laughter is one of the first things we learn as babies. Scientists note that babies who smile the quickest were smiled at more in general. If parents are happy and smiling, it is a given that the baby is likely to smile quickly as well. Much research on children has been performed, and scientists discovered that laughter helped with children’s ability to endure pain and was also effective in the healing process. This is a valuable discovery for young cancer patients. Laughing relaxed patients who had to have painful procedures or who suffered from the anxiety of pain expectation.
Researchers have found that there are many positive effects from laughter, but no known negative effects. Laughter really is the best medicine. Just thinking about something funny makes the hormones flow, and the body has a positive and healthy response.
Experiencing stress without laughter reduces the ability of the body to fight disease because it suppresses the immune system. A stressed body can’t fight infections and other disorders. Your body responds to emotions and feelings, so it’s good to laugh and release all the positive effects related to laughter. Basically, the immune system is closely linked to the positives resulting from laughter. Laughing helps to fight disease.
Stress levels can be reduced through daily exercise and having good eating habits, and when laughter is added, things get even better. People who laugh a lot have reduced stress levels, and reducing stress is a major step in fighting disease.
Discover more articles and information about science and laughter as a medicine at http://science-discovery.com
Article Source: ezine articles
Laughter Lowers Blood Pressure
Laughter, Good for Your Health
By: chicnhealth
Laughter is the best form of medicine. Studies on laughter show that people with a better sense of humor have longer and healthier lives.
The data from this study have found that laughter is a form of internal jogging that exercises the body and stimulates the release of beneficial brain neurotransmitters and hormones. Like exercise, laughter also releases endorphins – the body’s natural painkillers. Laughter strengthen our immune systems and help us recover from illness, as well as bring joy into our lives.
The researchers say that the findings could point to laughter as a useful treatment for a number of conditions. Using laughter as a form of medicine has been suggested for decades, however there has been little hard evidence of its health effects on patients.
Plus laughter is refreshing and exhilarating. So let’s tune in on the laugh track and find out if laughter is the greatest medicine ever discovered. Or maybe it’s all just a big joke.
Health benefits of laughter:
Studying therapeutic benefits of laughter began 20 years ago when Norman Cousins, in Anatomy of an Illness, told his story of overcoming a fatal disease by watching old Charlie Chaplin movies. Laughter is a great antidote to illness.
1. Improves mental and emotional health
Laugh is a powerful emotional medicine that can lower stress, dissolve anger and unite families in troubled times.laugh helps us replace distressing emotions with pleasurable feelings. You cannot feel angry, depressed, anxious, guilty, or resentful and experience humor at the same time.
2. Lowers blood pressure
Laughing will lower your blood sugar levels as well. Having a blood sugar level that is too high contributes to diabetes and obesity along with other health conditions
First, blood pressure rises when you start to laugh, then it goes down below the normal level. When you laugh, your tendency is also to take in a lot of air, and with it, oxygen, which gets into your blood and feed your body. Oxygen is good because it stimulates the circulation of blood and the processes of your body.
3. Boost immune system
Laughter brings a balance to all the components of the immune system and increases infection fighting antibodies. It increases our attentiveness, heart rate, and pulse.
4. Protects the heart
Laughter, along with an active sense of humor, may help protect you against a heart attack, according to the study at the University of Maryland Medical Center (cited above). The study, which is the first to indicate that laughter may help prevent heart disease, found that people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared to people of the same age without heart disease.
Patients prescribed the “mirthful laughter” went on to increase the amount of good cholesterol, which protects against heart disease, in their blood stream.
5. Gives our bodies a good workout
Laughter can be a great workout for your diaphragm, abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles. It massages abdominal organs, tones intestinal functioning, and strengthens the muscles that hold the abdominal organs in place. Not only does laughter give your midsection a workout, it can benefit digestion and absorption functioning as well. It is estimated that hearty laughter can burn calories equivalent to several minutes on the rowing machine or the exercise bike.
6. Improves brain function
Laughter stimulates both sides of the brain to enhance learning. keep your body organs active and your body more energized. These also help you be more focused, which facilitates learning and knowledge acquisition.
7. Increases muscle relaxation
Laugh as a means of reducing tension because laughter is often followed by a state of relaxation.
Finally
Laughter as a therapeutic method, the first obvious issue is that there are no harmful side effects, and you’ve got nothing to lose. Last but not least, try to find the funny side of the small things that happen every day around you – there is always something absurd or plain stupid going on right near you, which may provide five minutes of good laugher, which, in turn, may unblock some arteries and keep the heart attack far away.
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