Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Laughter really may be the best medicine, according to research presented to the American College of Cardiology. Laughing appears to boost your blood flow and researchers say it may reduce your risk of developing heart disease

* Laughing is thought to help you to fight off illnesses by boosting your immune system. It increases the amount of immunoglobulins, natural killer cells and T cells in the body, which fight infection and tumours.4,5,6,7
* Laughing reduces pain. Children watching comedy films relax more and tolerate pain more easily.8,9 In fact, humorous videos are being used in anaesthetic rooms at Manchester Children's Hospital.10 And an American nurse has found that telling jokes to her patients before she administers a painful treatment reduces their discomfort.11
* Laughing reduces allergic responses, including hay fever symptoms.12,13,14
* Laughing lifts your mood - even if you have to force yourself to laugh.15
* Laughing reduces the effect of stress by lowering stress hormone levels.16
* Laughing helps keeps diabetes under control. It may help to control spikes in blood sugar levels after a meal, reducing the chances of diabetic complications. In one study, people who watched a funny video during dinner had lower blood sugar levels after the meal compared to the people who watched a lecture video.17

Make time to laugh

The researchers suggest that we should try to laugh more. In the same way that we try to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day and climb the stairs instead of taking the lift, perhaps we need to make time to have a good laugh.