" DURING LAUGHTER, HORMONES ARE RELEASED IN THE BODY WHICH RELAX THE MIND AND BODY"
The best things in life may not be free. But there is one thing which can do wonders, and it costs nothing---laughter. The adage "laughter is the best medicine" holds very much true even today.
Researchers have found that laughter improves your mood, reduces anxiety, eases stress,and is associated with creativity and emotional stability. Laughter helps lower blood pressure, adds years to your life and also helps one de-stress. So why not laugh all your worries away.
A new study from the University of Maryland Medical Center has shown that laughter, along with a healthy sense of humor is good for your heart. Researchers found that people with heart disease were 40 per cent less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared to people of the same age without heart disease.
The study compared the humor responses of 300 people, 150 who had a history of heart disease either a heart attack or who had gone through a coronary artery bypass surgery.
The other 150 participants were all healthy, age matched adults who were free of heart disease.
The participants in the study completed two questionnaires.
The first measured the participants humor response in different situations. The second questionnaire had true/false questions that measure anger and hostility.
The results of the study showed that people with heart disease are less likely to laugh in uncomfortable situations and were overall less likely to recognize humor. The participants with heart disease laughed less than the healthy participants, even in positive situations.
"We don't know yet why laughing protects the heart, but we know that mental stress is associated with impairment of the epithelium, 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 heart attack" says Dr.Michael Miller.MD.FACC. director of the centre for preventive Cordiology at the University of Maryland Medical Centre says Dr.Sunil Wadhwa consultant physician and cardiologist, "During laughter, hormones are released in the body which relax the mind and body. There is decrease in hormones which produce stress hormones adrenaline and steroids. There is also release of hormones dopamine and serotonin.Which provides us with a feeling of wellbeing"
Dr Wadhwa adds " There are several laughter clubs in India, even though it may be mechanical laughter, they help people distress and relax. Once there is decreased in stress hormones, there is reduction in diseases like heart problems, blood pressure and diabetes"
