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Health Really Is a Laughing Matter
by author Sandra Tonn

No matter what you’re planning for the year ahead, if health is a priority, then laughing should be one as well. A good guffaw, or even a goofy giggle, is not only your best medicine, but a free, easy, and powerful way to prevent disease, relieve stress, and increase emotional health.

It’s been more than two decades since Norman Cousins’s Anatomy of an Illness (Doubleday, 1991) featured the first documented case of humour positively affecting disease. The scientific evidence has been piling up ever since. Our recent fascination with how the mind affects the body, also known as psycho-neuro-immunology, has provided even more reason to burst out, crack up, slap our knees, and rock with laughter. In this field of study, where doctors determine how a person’s psychological state affects his or her immune system, laughter is becoming an effective means of disease prevention.

Cultural anthropologists suggest the purpose of laughter is related to making and strengthening human connections. Psychologists suggest that human laughter may have begun as a gesture of shared relief after danger had passed. The relaxation that results from a bout of laughter inhibits the biological fight-or-flight response. It also shows trust in our companion.

Cave men probably had a good giggle after surviving near-death while hunting woolly mammoth. Today, we still often need to feel such relief. Laughter, our emotions, and true health are intimately linked. I remember laughing my head off with a friend at her father’s wake a few years ago. Yes, the occasion was sad and uncomfortable, but we had an opportunity to laugh and we did. The relief was as great as the emotions behind the laughter. Since then, I’ve often noticed the fine line between laughter and tears. They are similar avenues for emotional release, so why not laugh when given the chance? Laughing helps release emotions that, if held inside, can create biochemical changes harmful to the body.

Physiologically, laughing increases respiration, circulation, and hormonal and digestive enzyme secretion. Laughing is aerobic, providing a workout for the diaphragm and increasing the body’s ability to use oxygen. A good belly laugh even relaxes muscles that aren’t used to laugh. Frequent laughter empties the lungs of more air than they take in, which has a cleansing effect. A sense of humour is also very good for the heart. Studies have shown laughter to lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation of the heart, and protect against heart attack.

Dr. Lee Berk of Loma Linda University in California has studied the effects of laughter on the immune system. He found that laughing boosts immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, disease-fighting proteins, and B-cells (which produce disease-destroying antibodies). Additional studies have shown that laughter can reduce pain and aid the healing process, both physically and emotionally. A recent study has shown that even fake laughter favourably affects our immune cells.

Aside from all the documented benefits, there’s no denying that laughing simply feels good. Perhaps we should embrace the gift of laughter for what it is: a simple way to be healthier and happier. If we can laugh at ourselves, in a loving and accepting way, we’ll have enough funny material to last a long healthy lifetime.

Former editor of journal and , Sandra Tonn is a freelance natural health journalist, holistic nutrition consultant, and natural health speaker in Vancouver, BC. E-mail: sandra_tonn@telus.net .

Source: alive #255, January 2004