Laughter… Is It Really Medicine?
Dear Natural Health Solutions Reader,
Norman Cousins (1915-1990) was a heroic figure in the world of alternative medicine.
A journalist and professor of medical humanities at UCLA, he never believed that only synthetic drugs and invasive surgery could effectively treat disease – a destructive but highly profitable idea that began taking over medicine in the 1970s and which, unfortunately, is still going strong.
Cousins understood that each human being is a complex intersection of physical, mental and emotional forces – and that altering any of these in a positive direction had the potential to heal.
Specifically, he took a close look at the restorative power of laughter in his 1979 book, Anatomy of an Illness. It documented his fight with ankylosing spondylitis, an immune system disorder that causes severe arthritis.
Cousins decided, quite logically, that the opposite of feeling miserably, painfully sick was laughing with delight. Therefore, he thought, a steady diet of humorous books and Marx Brothers movies might alleviate his condition.
One of his first conclusions: 10 minutes of hearty laughs translated into roughly two hours of pain-free sleep.
He eventually recovered completely, and lived happily and healthfully for another 26 years, confounding his doctors’ predictions of an early death.
His experience was individual and anecdotal, to be sure. But there is a growing body of solid research indicating that laughter:
- Stimulates the circulatory system
- Reduces pain
- Decreases stress hormones
- Protects heart health
Consider: The University of Maryland Medical Center found that people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh than people without heart disease.
Because it was impossible to tease apart causation and correlation, the researchers went on to test students with healthy cardiovascular systems to measure the effects of feeling stressed vs. laughing.
This time the results were unequivocal – average blood flow increased 22 percent during laughter, and decreased 35 percent during mental stress.
According to the UMMC’s Michael Miller, M.D., it is “conceivable” that laughing “may be important to maintain a healthy endothelium,” the protective barrier lining our blood vessels by lowering inflammation. This, in turn, could help prevent fat and cholesterol build-up in the coronary arteries that might lead to a heart attack.
Dr. Miller’s advice: laugh a total of at least 15 minutes a day.
If your circle of family and friends doesn’t contain many natural comedians, or you are an unreconstructed Type A with an underdeveloped sense of humor, here’s a unique way to tap into humor’s power.
A growing movement called “laughter yoga” gathers otherwise sane and grounded people who begin by engaging in choreographed fake laughter. The forced “ha ha’s” and “ho ho’s” last only a few seconds, quickly transitioning into real, heartfelt laughter that can last up to 30 minutes.
I’ve taken part in laughter yoga sessions, and they are highly enjoyable, even ecstatic. One remarkable side effect – laughing with a group of people is profoundly bonding. If you are short on friends, you’ll find them easy to acquire at the end of a laughter yoga session.
Locate a group near you at Laughter Yoga.
Whatever stimulus you choose, laugh – it makes you not only healthier, but happier, and you’ll get better at it with practice. As Charles Darwin noted, “The free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensifies it. On the other hand, the repression, as far as this is possible, of all outward signs softens our emotions… Even the simulation of an emotion tends to arouse it in our minds.”
Take it from Chuck: Lighten up!
Sincerely,
Brad Lemley
Natural Health Solutions
Citations
Bill Seller, “School of Medicine Study Shows Laughter Helps Blood Vessels Function Better,” University of Maryland Medical Center website, March 7, 2005
“Laughter therapy,” Cancer Treatment Centers of America website, accessed March 29, 2015
