It’s often said that laughter is the best medicine and there’s a lot of truth to that.
Laughter affects many regions of the forebrain and these regulate the hypothalamus, which sends out messages that allow your body to react appropriately to life situations.
Your Heart:
Laughter might protect you from having a heart attack by preventing inflammation of the endothelium, the protective barrier lining the heart’s blood vessels. It also improves blood pressure and heart rate and may increase nitric oxide production. (Yep, nitric oxide is laughing gas, which means once you start, it might be hard to stop!)
Your Respiratory System:
Laughing brings more oxygen into your lungs, which can help to ease chronic respiratory conditions. Japanese researchers found that watching a funny video helped 26 test subjects combat their respiratory allergies for up to 2 hours afterwards.
Your Immune System:
Laughter helps to increase the production of natural killer cells and T-cells, which are the major anti-viral and anti-tumour defences of your immune system.
Your Abs, Shoulders and Face:
When you laugh, your abdomen and diaphragm contract, your facial muscles stretch and your back and shoulders relax. It like a mini-rehab session!
So there you have it folks, if you’re not feeling as healthy and happy as you should be, add laughter to your list of remedies. Go to a funny movie, visit a funny friend or go to a comedy club. It’s just what the doctor ordered.