Health news - Is laughter the best medicine?

16 March 2005 - written by BUPA's Health information team

Researchers found that laughing increased blood flow by more than 20 percent - a similar effect to that of aerobic activity. The positive effect of laughing lasted for 30-45 minutes.
In contrast, stress decreased the flow by about 35 percent.
Almost everyone seems to benefit from having a good laugh:
- 95 percent of the volunteers in the study (19 out of 20) had better blood flow after watching a comedy movie clip
- 70 percent (14 out of 20) had a worse blood flow after watching a stressful film sequence

What are the other benefits of having a good laugh?
Various studies have suggested that having a good laugh is associated with much more than just keeping your heart healthy.

- Laughing is thought to help you to fight off illnesses by boosting your immune system. It increases the amount of immunoglobulins, natural killer cells and T cells in the body, which fight infection and tumours.
- Laughing reduces pain. Children watching comedy films relax more and tolerate pain more easily. In fact, humorous videos are being used in anaesthetic rooms at Manchester Children's Hospital. And an American nurse has found that telling jokes to her patients before she administers a painful treatment reduces their discomfort.
- Laughing reduces allergic responses, including hay fever symptoms.
- Laughing lifts your mood - even if you have to force yourself to laugh.
- Laughing reduces the effect of stress by lowering stress hormone levels.
- Laughing helps keep diabetes under control. It may help to control spikes in blood sugar levels after a meal, reducing the chances of diabetic complications. In one study, people who watched a funny video during dinner had lower blood sugar levels after the meal compared to the people who watched a lecture video.

This is just something to perk you people up a bit since most of you seem so down after the term exam results.