Sure, you know that your mood is better after you’ve had a good laugh, but did you know that your health may improve, too?
Remember Psalm 17- “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” Medical research has caught up. Studies reported by Lee Berk, M.D., a neurologist at Loma Linda University in California, and his team, as well as other researchers, show that laughter prompts changes in the body that may help the immune and endocrine systems to function better.
Laughter increases the number and activity of cells that help us fight disease and decreases stress-related hormones.
The nice thing about laughter is that it’s contagious, according to Robert Provine, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland. When you hear other people laugh, you tend to laugh too. Provine suggests that laughter does something special to our brains to trigger the laugh sounds in us.
So for the sake of your health, if you don’t find the nightly sitcoms funny, rent some of your favorite old movies ; or call a friend to share your latest joke.
Adapted from New Choices article by Rita Watson, Copyright 2007 Watson