TO YOUR HEALTH By Dr. Jay Mazzella D.C. Of Gallagher Chiropractic Leonardo, NJ  View Archive

Click here Tell others about this page published 13 December 2001

IS LAUGHTER THE BEST MEDICINE?

Laughter is the best medicine. Fairly well used expression, but some researches have decided to investigate if there is any truth to the matter. The results seem to point out that a regular dose of guffaws can be beneficial for the body in lots of ways.

The information that I had read was based on research done on heart attack victims. Apparently half of the group, which had all suffered a previous heart attack, were subjected to 30 minutes of comedy shows a day. The other half served as a control. Apparently, after a year, the group that got to watch the comedy shows had only two members that suffered repeated heart attacks, while the control group had ten.

Scientifically, the evidence points to reduced levels of certain "stress" hormones in people after they have a good laugh. These stress hormones seem to be related to irregular heartbeats that could trigger a heart attack. Medical science had already figured out that beta-blockers can be used to lower the levels of these hormones, but fortunately a good belly laugh has the same effect with less dangerous side effects and obviously less expense.

I wonder what the results of the research would have been if they had the subjects go out and exercise for 30 minutes instead of sitting around and watching videos?

To Your Health!

Dr. Jay Mazzella practices at Gallagher Chiropractic Center located at 934 Hwy 36 Leonardo. You can call him at 291-5656 or send email to: GallagherChiro56@aol.com