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April 08, 2008

How to laugh away stress

From Nature:

News2008 They say that laughter is the best medicine, and now research is beginning to prove that this adage might be truer than we think. Laughter has long been known to make people happier, but a new study has shown that even anticipating a good laugh is good for your health. When stressed out, the body constricts blood vessels, elevates the production of potentially damaging stress hormones, and raises blood pressure. Short periods of stress are normal and not dangerous, but over long periods of time stress weakens the immune system and makes heart problems more likely.

In 2005 researchers found that laughing lowers blood pressure, but the biochemical mechanism within the body remained unclear. Now Lee Berk at Loma Linda University in California and his colleagues have revealed part of the answer. Back in 2006, Berk and his colleagues found that merely anticipating laughter boosted the production of mood-elevating hormones called β-endorphins and the immunity-enhancing human growth hormone by 27% and 87%, respectively. This led the team to wonder whether the link between lowered blood pressure and laughter could be the result of laughter somehow interfering with the production of stress hormones.

More here.

Posted by Azra Raza at 05:31 AM | Permalink

Comments

“It’s no joke, we need to start prescribing humour as medication”

Since the way Americans over-medicate themselves has become a joke, it seems only fair that jokes become medication.

Posted by: Jared | Apr 8, 2008 9:40:19 AM

The therapeutic benefits of laughter has been incorporated into yoga routines by some.

Posted by: Ruchira | Apr 8, 2008 11:30:24 AM

Great to know there's a scientific basis for this. I guess that's why laughter yoga clubs make sense:
http://www.laughteryoga.org/

Posted by: Marilyn Terrell | Apr 8, 2008 11:31:17 AM

That should read:

The therapeutic benefits of laughter have been incorporated into yoga routines by some.

Posted by: Ruchira | Apr 8, 2008 11:33:00 AM

Ruchira,

Glad you corrected it. For a while, there, you looked like a horses' ass.

Posted by: Jared | Apr 8, 2008 11:40:57 AM

Speaking of Yoga and laughter...

http://engrish.com/detail.php?imagename=yoga-pirates.jpg&category=Signs/Posters&date=2007-10-31

Posted by: Gauldar | Apr 9, 2008 12:56:47 PM

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