The Healing Power of Laughter & Play

“For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast “(Proverbs 15:15, The New Living Translation).

Being fully engaged with life means packing in plenty of laughter and play. Humor not only feels good, “activating regions of the brain associated with happiness and euphoria, but can give us a valuable edge when we want to boost, improve, or maintain our health. Tracking the effects of laughter, Dr. Lee Berk of the Loma Linda University Medical School in California, a pioneer in psychoneuroimmunology, verifies that hearty giggles and belly laughs enhance the immune system, increase natural disease-fighting killer cells, and ward off stress-related illness₁.

Laughter Increases Natural Disease-Fighting Killer Cells

More research by Fry places laughter and play firmly in your medicine bag of tricks. Consider, for example, his study where hearty laughter was shown to increase levels of circulating antibodies-an important component of immunity -or up to thirty-six hours₆.  Spotlighting other effects, Fry and colleagues demonstrated that just one minute of mirthful laughter can equal ten minutes on a rowing machine₇!  Further findings show laughter may even provide protection against free radicals. Free-radical scavenging capacity, as measured in saliva, rose an average of 30 percent after watching a single episode of a half -hour comedy₈. And in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, dissolving into hearty laughter rapidly lowered interleukin-6 levels by half (a marker of inflammation), suggesting that this could influence the neuroendocrine-immune system in a positive way₉.

Laughter Wards Off Stress Related Illnesses
Dr. Jaime Sanz-Ortiz, a specialist in cancer and palliative medicine, summarizes that while humor strengthens immunity in addition to reducing pain, anxiety, and tension, it also inspires creativity and hope and distracts us from our problems “even if it’s only for a moment” and gives a fresh perspective to our concerns (whatever they may be_)10.

So look for ways to cultivate humor, search out wonder, and add more laughter and play to your day. Give yourself a healing edge by taking a break from the newspaper or the evening news. Play a game or just practice laughing. At least for one physician, no jokes are needed. Madan Kataria, M.D., author of Laugh for No Reason, finds health advantages just from going through the motions.  If you would like to dial up your humor quotient, explore the tapes and videos by Loretta LaRoche, M.D., “The Mirth Doctor. Or for a daily dose of clean humor try the website ajokeaday.com. Just anticipating or looking forward to laughing can lower stress hormones, which are linked to heart disease and immune impairment.

REFERENCES:

1. Berk et al., “Modulation of neuroimmune parameters during the eustress of humor-associated mirthful laughter,” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 7 (2001): 62-72, 74-6. Also L Berk et al., “Mirthful Laughter, as Adjunct Therapy in Diabetic Care, Attenuates Catecholamines, Inflammatory Cytokines, C – reactive protein, and Myocardial Infarction Occurrence,” European Preventive Cardiology Meeting, May (2007).
2. A. Sahakian and W. Frishman, “Humor and the Cardiovascular System,” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 13 (2007): 56-58. Miller et al., “Impact of cinematic viewing on endothelial function,” Heart, 92 (2006): 261-62.
3. S. Tan et al., “Mirthful laughter an effective adjunct in cardiac rehabilitation,” Canadian Journal of Cardiology, 13 (1997): supplement, 190. M Balick and R Lee, “The Role of Laughter in Traditional Medicine and it’s Relevance to the Clinical Setting: Healing with Ha!” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 9 (2003): 88-91.
4. M. Miller et al., “Impact of cinematic viewing on endothelial function,” Heart, 92 (2006): 261-62.
5. P. Wooten, “An Interview with William Fry Jr., M.D.,” Journal of Nursing Jocularity, 4 (1994): 46-47.
6. Fry, “Mirth and the human cardiovascular system,” in The Study of Humor, ed. Harvey Mindess and Joy Turek (Los Angeles: Antioch University Press, 1979).
7. T. Atsumi et al., “Pleasant feeling from watching comical video enhances free radical-scavenging capacity in human whole saliva,” Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 56 (2004): 377-9.
8. S. Oshiro and E Mukai, “Neuroendocrine-immune system in patients with rheumatoid arthritis,” Journal of Modern Rheumatology, 13 (2003): 193-98. E Choy, “Interleukin 6 receptor as a target for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis,” Annals of Rheumatic Disease, 62 (2003): ii68-ii69.
9. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, “Facing Illness with a Sense of Humor,” Awake, April 22 (2005): 26-27.
10. Madan Kataria, “Laugh for No Reason” Madhuri International, 2002.