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LAUGHTER REALLY IS GOOD FOR YOU!

Researchers led by Californian physician Dr Lee Berk has shown that laughter enhances mood, reduces stress hormones, boosts the immune system and lowers blood pressure and levels of LDL or 'bad' cholesterol. Laughter also stimulates appetite. As countless copies of the Reader's Digest have been telling us for years, it would seem that laughter, if not actually the best medicine, certainly has a great many beneficial effects.

14 volunteers were asked to watch two 20-minute videos chosen for either their upsetting or funny content. The distressing clip was the opening sequence of Speilberg's Saving Private Ryan, which shows troops being cut down by machine gun and mortar fire they storm the beach on D Day. The volunteers were given a number of options to suite their tastes. They could choose for the funny video, including scenes from comedy films and performances by stand-up comedians. They sat through both videos a week apart in order to make sure the effects dod not overlap. Measurements of blood pressure were taken, together with blood tests to ascertain levels of two appetite hormones, leptin and ghrelin.

Saving Private Ryan did not produce any significant effects, but the humurous clips cuased changes in blood pressure, an increase in grehlin and a decrease in leptin - very similar to the effects one would see after moderate excercise.

Dr Berk said: "The ultimate reality of this research is that laughter causes a wide variety of modulation, and that the body's response to repetitive laughter is similar to the effect of repetitive exercise. The value of the research is that it may provide for those who are healthcare providers with new insights and understandings, and thus further potential options for patients who cannot use physical activity to normalise or enhance their appetite."

Previous research by Dr Berk has already demonstrated how laughter improves mood, reduces stress and activates cells in the immune system, particularly those which fight cancer.
 

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