Laughter for the Heart
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine..."
[Proverbs 17:22]
Laugher Is the Best Medicine! Reader's Digest has a section similarly titled - That was the section I always read first whenever I got hold of a copy. Have you noticed how relaxing it feels after you have had a hearty laugh? No matter how bad or ill you feel, laughing somehow makes it less noticeable. Research is revealing, more than just a psychological effect, there may be a beneficial physiologic effect of laughing.A study by cardiologists at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore last November 2000 was the first to indicate that laughter may help prevent heart disease.
The researchers 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.
"We don't know yet why laughing protects the heart, but we know that mental stress is associated with impairment of the endothelium, the protective barrier lining our blood vessels. This can cause a series of inflammatory reactions that lead to fat and cholesterol build-up in the coronary arteries and ultimately to a heart attack," says Dr. Miller who is also an associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
People with heart disease were less likely to recognize humor or use it to get out of uncomfortable situations. They generally laughed less, even in positive situations and they displayed more anger and hostility. [Laughter is the 'Best Medicine' For Your Heart]
Laughing is free, and along with a good sense of humor does not harm anyone. Maybe I should start including, "Laugh for 2 minutes 3x/day" in my prescriptions :)
Humor Yourself [Laughter... Heart]
- Figure out what tickles your funny bone
- Rent a funny movie
- Add comedy to your commute
- Start a humor library
- Laugh with others
- Find humor in seemingly ordinary, everyday things
- Learn the basics of humor
- Remember a funny moment
- Laugh at yourself
- Make fun of your fears
- Act silly
- Learn to play
- Visit the zoo and watch the animals
- Lighten up!
"The most powerful thing we're given is our ability to laugh, It's our greatest gift, especially if we can laugh at ourselves and not take ourselves so seriously." [Goldblum-Carlton]
Categories: health, heart, humor, laughter, medicine
