Laughter: A fool-proof prescription We all know the saying “laughter is the best medicine,” but have you ever wondered how many body systems it really benefits? Laughter has a huge impact on both mental and physical health, and is possibly the cheapest medicine available, aside from fresh air, sunshine or exercise. Lee S. Berk, DrPH, associate dean of research affairs for Loma Linda University School of Allied Health Professions, is serious about laughter. Berk has been studying the effect laughter has on the body since 1988, appearing in media outlets from TIME and USA Today to Forbes and NBC. He encourages people to laugh every day. Laughter can make you feel good in the present, build up good health in the future, and work to combat negative health from the past. - Link - Loma Linda University
Ask Dr. Lee Burk - Your Body could use a belly laugh It may not be the best medicine. But laughter’s great for you, and it may even compare to a proper diet and exercise when it comes to keeping you healthy and disease free.... That’s according to Dr. Lee Berk, an associate professor at Loma Linda University in California who has spent nearly three decades studying the ways the aftershocks of a good laugh ripple through your brain and body.... Berk says your mind, hormone system and immune system are constantly communicating with one another in ways that impact everything from your mood to your ability to fend off sickness and disease. Take grief: “Grief induces stress hormones, which suppress your immune function, which can lead to sickness,” he says. Hardly a week goes by without new research tying stress to another major ailment. - Link
The laughter of the 1962 Tanganyika 'laughter epidemic' - CHRISTIAN F. HEMPELMANN - Abstract: The present article discusses the role of laughter in the much cited ‘laugh- ter epidemic' that occurred in Tanganyika in 1962. Despite its extraordi- nary nature, the veracity of the event is confirmed, crucially on the basis of similar reports. But most current representations are flawed by their exag- geration and misinterpretation of the role of laughter in the event, relating it to a humorous stimulus, a virus or environmental contaminant, or identi- fying it as contagious laughter. It is argued that the event is a motor-variant case of mass psychogenic illness of which laughter is one common symp- tom. Therefore it cannot serve as support for other arguments in humor research. - Keywords: Africa; Laughter; laughter epidemic; mass hysteria; mass psy- chogenic illness; Tanganyika. - Link
On Laughter. -Buckwald, Art Abstract - I am delighted that the American Medical Association is starting to take laughter seriously. As Dr W. Black points out in his learned paper, laughter does have a great therapeutic value in a person's health. The more a person laughs (voluntarily as opposed to involuntarily), the better he feels. Dr Black cites many studies that indicate what takes place physiologically in the body when we laugh, - Link
Mirthful Laughter, as Adjunct Therapy in Diabetic Care, Attenuates Catecholamines, Inflammatory Cytokines, C – reactive protein, and Myocardial Infarction Occurrence. Berk, LS, Tan, LG, and Tan, SA Presentation at FASEB 2008 Meetings, April 2008, San Diego, CA (not previously documented in faculty report) ( 7/2009 – 6/2010 )
Cortisol and Catecholamines decrease are associated with the behavior of perceptual anticipation of a mirthful laughter humor experience. Berk LS, Tan SA, Berk DE Presentation at FASEB 2008 Meetings, April 2008, San Diego, CA (not previously reported in faculty report) ( 7/2009 – 6/2010 )
Stanley A Tan, Linda G Tan, Sharon T Lukman, Lee S Berk. “Humor-associated mirthful laughter, as an adjunct therapy in cardiac rehabilitation, attenuates catecholamines and myocardial infarction recurrence.” Submitted ( 0/2008 – 0/2009 ) Link… Background: Catecholamines, especially epinephrine, are implicated in causing arrhythmias, hypertension, and recurrence of myocardial infarction (MI). Diminishing or blocking the effect of catecholamines is useful in cardiac rehabilitation. We have shown previously that a single one-hour episode of mirthful laughter attenuates epinephrine production. Design: We hypothesized that daily participation in mirthful laughter would diminish catecholamine production and improve cardiac rehabilitation. Methods: Forty-eight diabetic patients who had recent MI were randomly divided into two matched groups, and followed for one year in their cardiac rehabilitation programs. The experimental laughter group was asked to view self-selected humor for 30 minutes daily as an adjunct to their standard cardiac therapy. Blood pressure, urinary and plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine levels, and 24-hour Holter recordings were monitored monthly in both experimental and control groups. Results: The patients in the laughter group had fewer episodes of arrhythmias, lower blood pressure, lower urinary and plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine levels, less use of nitroglycerin for angina and a markedly lower incidence of recurrent MI (2/24, 8.3%) than did the control group (10/24, 42%) Conclusion: Laughter attenuates catecholamines and MI recurrence, and thus can be an effective adjunct in post-MI care.
Humor and Laughter Therapy Pubmed - link - There is much anecdotal 'evidence' from nurses and patients to support humour and laughter as therapy. However, there is little research to support specific humour or laughter interventions as beneficial in the short or long term in the clinical environment. Humour and laughter remain potentially exciting and innovative tools for nursing therapy. They have a number of effects which could prove beneficial for many different nursing and medical diagnoses and appear to have the additional advantage of being adaptable to most situations. More clinical evaluation of humour and laughter therapy is required before its appropriate use can be defined. - PMID: 9456713 DOI: 10.1016/s1353-6117(05)80080-0
