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Laughter is the Best Medicine
A great sense of humor can add 8 years to your life Believe it or not, laughter has the ability to get your body systems into play, all at the same time. When you laugh, your muscles contract, your respiration increases in volume and rate, your body temperature rises, and your central nervous system is activated. A good laugh can also bring you to a relaxed state characterized by a sense of stress-relief. A no-cost and fully-available healing power is hidden in your laughter, so do give it a thought and remind yourself to get happy. Being happy is healthy. How can laughter improve your overall health? Research has established that simple laughing can alleviate pain and improve a person's sense of well-being. In fact, one positive effect of laughter on one part of the body can lead to a whole lot more health benefits. Laughing helps maintain your cardiovascular health by stimulating your heart and lungs, elevating your blood pressure, and improving your breathing capacity. This, in turn, increases the amount of oxygen in your body which helps you clean out toxins and wastes. In other words, it hastens the detoxification process of your entire body system. Researchers have estimated that a good laugh produces an increase in heart rate equivalent to 15 minutes of biking. Even the expectation of laughter alone can already increase the production of endorphins, which are known to be the body's natural painkillers. This helps you alleviate pain in your system and even help you counter negative emotions and get over some painful experiences. Laughter also lowers the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in your body. As cortisol suppresses the immune system, laughter reverses this and fortifies your body resistance to fight infections and diseases. When you laugh, a coordination of muscles throughout your body takes place. Your abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg and back muscles are exercised. You get a dose of physical workout similar to an aerobic session simply by laughing. When it comes to metabolism and weight loss, laughter can also be a good partner. It burns a bit more than one calorie per minute. How can laughter make you relax? When at rest, your body systems are all at their normal activity levels. These activities are usually manifested in your normal breathing, muscle contractions, and pumping of the blood. After a good laugh, these levels fall beyond normal and that puts you to a relaxed state. Laughter also diffuses negative emotions like anger and boredom. It helps you regain proper perspective about situations, cope with challenges, and deal with conflicts. The endorphin rush when you laugh is similar to the so-called "runner's high" that runners get from their regular jog. This endorphin release leaves the same exhilarating effect that a strenuous exercise gives. You're just one laugh away from getting rid of your daily tension without hitting the pavement. Laughing with someone increases your sense of belonging. You psychologically establish a connection with the other person that breaks the feeling of alienation, which is the major triggering factor of depression. Chronic Diseases and Laughter A study conducted by the Foundation for Advancement of Internal Science in Japan found that laughter helps regulate gene expression, which means, it can assist in controlling type II diabetes. There is a great probability that the gene which causes type II diabetes could never show up in a person who is happier and motivated. Although laughter cannot replace insulin, it could still be of great help in preventing the disease. S. Karger AG, from Basel, Switzerland has one of the most significant discoveries about laughter. In his study, laughter has been proven to alleviate some of the lasting effects of heart attacks, resulting in less medication needed, and fewer repeat heart attacks. They conducted this study using a 30-minute humor therapy daily. Supporting these findings is the study conducted by Dr. Michael Miller from the University of Maryland which shows that laughter can improve circulatory and cardiovascular health. Other studies also show that laughter has a positive effect on rheumatoid arthritis, both on the level of the physical condition and psychological aspect of the patient. According to a study by Dr. Michael Titze, a German Psychologist, people use to laugh an average of 18 minutes a day in the 1950's. Today, that figure is down to 4 - 6 minutes a day. No wonder that the common denominator among the top killer diseases of today is stress. While the human mind is busy with technology, finding ways to fight diseases; laughter, the no-cost and effective medicine, is overlooked. Interesting facts about laughter
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