Laughter is the Best Medicine

I love to laugh and I would not like to have a day where I did not at least laugh once.  I find it quite easy to laugh, especially since I am normally laughing at myself. I believe that if you cannot laugh at yourself, then you are missing out on more than half of the humor in the world.  Laughter has many therapeutic effects that can help to improve health as well as overall mood.

A good belly laugh can help you to get rid of stress in more ways than one. When you first meet a person it can be stressful. Normally after you have had a good laugh with each other the stress is diminished. On the internal aspect of stress relief, while laughing the body will reduce cortisol and epinephrine being released into the body. These are hormones produced in the body to help cope with stress. Cortisol will increase the blood sugar of the body and over prolonged time can lead to diabetes. Epinephrine will constrict blood vessels, increase heart rate and dilate the bronchia in the lungs to increase airflow. Epinephrine will over prolonged time causes hypertension, headaches, tachycardia, arrhythmia, tremors, anxiety and pulmonary edema.  Laughter has been shown to reduce both of these hormones.

Chuckling aloud can help to reduce pain. The body will release endorphins when you laugh. The endorphins will produce the sensation of well-being and relief from pain. When physical trauma first happens to the body endorphins are released to help a person to cope with the pain.

A healthy snicker can help your immune system.  Antibody-producing cells are increased while laughing as well as the effectiveness of T-cells. These cells are major players in the immune system working properly.

I hope that this article will make you think about how important laughter is for your own health. Find something that will make you laugh and help you to enjoy your life more and live longer.