LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE

" 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"

ABOUT EXERCISE

Exercise has multiple benefits from increased muscle strength decreased weight and improved health. But how stays on a programme for more than a week ?

Research shows that if you can maitain an activity for 30 days you will be more likely to stick with it. And if you can maintain an activity for 60 days it will be harder to stop the habit than to continue.

This is one reason an exercise diary can be critical to your success. You may think that an excercise diary only includes the workout that was done, but there is so much more that can be recorded.

Recording exercise helps you to notice trends in your performance. If you rate in your performance through both objective and subjective critatia you will notice differences between your actual performance and how you felt that you performed.
Diaries can be retrospective (historical) and prospective (future). In other words you ca use the diary to record a plan for your workout and then record the actual routine. Using this strategy people new to an exercise routine have a greater chance of continuing the programme.
The diary acts somewhat like an accountability partner. The routine is written down and if you neglect to start or complete it you must also record your results. Using the diary to maintain your focus icreases your chanses of success.
Excercise diaries also help to highlight weaknesses in both your progamme and your abilities. Keeping track of your performance in different activities will indicate your abilities. And that some information will show you how quickly or slowly you are progressing.
Motivation is a problem for many people who are exercising or new to an exercise routine.
Doing the same thing day after day can be monotonous. Recording your objective data and watching the changes can often times increase your desire to continue. You can also change your routines and be assured that you have a record of what really worked and what does not.
Exercise diaries should include objective data such as heart rate before, during and after the amount of time you spent exercising any resistance ( weights ) you may be using, time 0f day you are exercising and measurements of your arms, thighs, waist and hips over time.
Subjective data should include how you feel before, during and after exercise. You can use a numeric rating system to be able to compare your "feelings" over time. Now you can evaluate when your top times to exercise are based on your rating system.
Exercise diaries give you the edge to improve your programme, increase your motivation, determine your best workouts and times, track your progress and began a life changing habit.Statr one day.

FOCUS ON HEALTH

Nowadays every body is having a medical problem, this is because they don't concentrate on " PREVENTION" after having the problem only they go for "CURE". In fact every body knows that "PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE" , but no body follows. Though the world is running to words the " HITECH-TECHNOLOGY", the knowledge of health is very little to every person, because they dont pay interest on it as they are busy whith their daily works.
I want to collect some health knowlege and share with my friends, relatives, and well wishers through this blog. I want to update my blog regularly with latest health news, all are welcome to help me in this regard.

HEALTHY NATURE