Is it true that laughter prolongs life?

There is a common opinion that laughter prolongs life or that laughter is the best medicine. We decided to check if laughter really has such properties.

The opinion that laughter prolongs life can be found on medical, educational And Scientific and popular resources, in glossy magazines, in federal Media. No less popular is the statement that laughter is the best medicine. About this write Medical institutions, Media, Scientific and popular publications, magazines about psychology. 

In 2016, Norwegian scientists Published The results of a long -term study on the connection of a sense of humor and death. They asked 56 thousand men and women three questions: “Do you consider yourself a funny person?”, “Do you understand jokes?” And "Do you think the jokers are irresponsible people?" After 15 years, they compared the answers that the subjects gave, and the cause of death of those who had already passed away by this moment. It turned out that laughter really has a positive effect on health. For funny women, the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases was 73% lower than those who considered themselves sad, and from infections-by 83%. In men, the connection was detected only with infections - they were 74% less funny from them.

Until scientists have established a direct causal relationship between laughter and diseases. Perhaps the effect observed by Norwegian scientists is due to the fact that laughter Helps reduce stress hormones, which in turn They oppress Immunity makes a person more susceptible to infections. Also stress Curses And to other health problems, for example, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, eczema and others. Accordingly, laughter, reducing the level of stress, helps to cope with them. It is no accident that in some children's hospitals in the USA and other Western countries you can meet clowns - proventhat they help children cope with fear of hospitalization or invasive procedures. Effective And the work of clowns in the homes of the elderly and geriatric departments.

The positive effect of laughter on the immune system (again due to a decrease in stress) Confirmed And the studies of the Taiwanese University conducted on teenagers. 

American society of experimental biology Notesthat laughter can improve memory. So, they conducted tests for memorization among the elderly subjects. The group that watched funny videos before the tests showed the best results-and again due to a decrease in the stress of cortisol stress.

American cardiologists Noticedthat people with vascular diseases laugh 40% less often than their healthy peers. They also associated this with the fact that stress leads to damage to the endothelium, a protective barrier lining our blood vessels. This leads to inflammation, accumulation of fat and cholesterol in the coronary arteries and, ultimately, to a heart attack. Laughter helps to prevent these problems. Eat researchConfirming that humorotherapy and laughter positively affect the blood pressure of the patients on hemodialysis.

Anesthetic effect of laughter Mark And scientists from Switzerland: it can reduce the pain and increase the pain threshold due to the release of endorphins and relief of muscle stress. With them agree And Oxford researchers: they found out that periods of intensive laughter increase pain resistance.

Positively influences "Father -mindedness" and patients with Parkinson's disease. A 12-week study conducted by the Parkinson Foundation showed that laughter improves concentration, reduces stress and helps patients with this diagnosis.

Study, carried out in Japan, revealed the therapeutic effect of laughter for patients with diabetes. Scientists associate him with muscle contractions caused by laughter, which help to quickly dispose of glucose. This may also be associated with neuroendocrine processes that prevented the increase in blood glucose. 

View the performances of clowns Helped To alleviate the symptoms and supported the respiratory functions of people with a chronic obstructive disease of the lungs.

Laughter can even increase The chances of a woman to get pregnant after IVF: the study showed that the members of the group, who showed the performances of clowns after the procedure, pregnant 16% more often than those who immediately went home.

Some researchers suggestthat doctors will soon prescribe “lader-in-therapy” for 10-15 minutes a day to strengthen health, as physical exercises are now recommended.

However, laughter also has side effects, so scientists They saythat everything is good in moderation. Unrestrained intense laughter can lead to fainting, involuntary inhalation of extraneous objects, urinary incontinence and other unpleasant consequences. True, in most cases, this is due to any concomitant diseases. Even one case of death from laughter is known - a woman with hearts and schizophrenia laughed so much that she fainted and never woke up.

Thus, there is no reliable evidence that laughter prolongs life in all cases, however, many medical studies confirm that laughter positively affects health, immune system, reduces the level of stress, reduces the likelihood of developing cardiovascular and some other diseases, and relieves pain. And this really can increase the duration and improve the quality of life.

Most of the truth

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Is it true that hugs are good for health?
2. Norman Casins. Anatomy of the disease through the eyes of the patient