“Knock, knock. Who’s there?” … Orange you glad? It’s a good idea to laugh away the post-holiday blues and the winter doldrums…
Well-being and good health, giggles are serious. According to the Mayo Clinic, laughter is an excellent stress reliever, and reduction of the “stress hormone” cortisol leads to numerous other health benefits.
Researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Center found those who have a sense of humor and laugh frequently are less likely to develop heart disease. In 2014, researchers at Loma Linda University in California observed as older adults watched funny videos and found that their cortisol levels dropped and their recall abilities improved after laughing.
“Laughter indeed triggers positive physiological responses,” says health educator and retired College of Charleston assistant professor Edie Ellis, PhD, involved in Advantage program on the relationship between laughter and longevity. Ellis says those physical changes, in addition to lowering stress, include stimulating blood flow to the organs, boosting the immune system, lowering blood pressure and even pain relief.
“By helping lower blood pressure and stress, laughter can help decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke,” Ellis adds. “But equally important, it improves one’s overall sense of well-being.”
Think about ways to add more laughter to your life. “A day without laughter is a day wasted,” Charlie Chaplin famously said. And it may also be a day without medicine. If laughter each day keeps the doctor away, then that’s a comedy routine worth practicing.
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