Joan Aragone Column: Laughing is Good for Your Health
By Joan Aragone
Remember Norman Cousins? The writer and editor was one of the first Americans to write about the connection between “mind and body.”
In a 1976 article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Cousins described how he cured himself of a life-threatening condition by ignoring doctors’ orders, including taking a variety of prescription drugs. He used laughter instead.
Facing a dire prognosis, he tested ideas not accepted by the American medical establishment at the time — that emotions, negative and positive, affect body chemistry, and the interplay between emotions and the body can be factors in the development of illness.
These days biologists, neurologists, endocrinologists and others can describe in detail the transmission of hormones related to the brain and other organs and their effect on mood and physiology. In 1976, Cousins didn’t have the science, but, as an intelligent observer, he made the connections.
Under the watch of a physician friend, he moved from an intensive care unit to a hotel room and for several hours a day drenched himself in comedy. He watched old Marx Brothers movies and episodes of the comic TV program “What’s My Line?”
A friend read selections from humor writings. He also took intravenous doses of ascorbic acid, or vitamin C.
He discovered that “ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep.”
He didn’t quite laugh himself to health, but the connection between body and mind seemed hard to ignore. In months, he was back to full-time work.
Cousins, who died in 1990 at the age of 85, described his experiences in “Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient.”
The author came to mind recently when I came home tense after a strenuous day and commute. It was 11 p.m. Nobody was home, and for lack of anything better to do, I turned on the TV and found “Seinfeld.”
Within seconds, despite sore muscles from my drive, I found myself drawn into the ridiculous antics of the four wackos, Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer.
In minutes, although I had seen the program before, I laughed — a deep, genuine laugh. And I immediately felt a change. The lungs opened, the chest expanded and warmed, the tension melted from the shoulders. I started to feel good. Cousins came to mind.
Now a new study reports that even anticipating a good experience can change brain cells. Researchers from Loma Linda University in Southern California found that anticipation of an experience that will make us laugh reduces potentially harmful stress hormones.
In 2006 the same researchers found that anticipation of laughter also increased the body’s production of two protective hormones. It works both ways.
For the current study of 16 males, one group were told they would see humorous video, while the other group weren’t so informed. Researchers drew blood from the groups before, during and after the showing. Blood levels of the harmful hormones decreased throughout the three phases in the group that had anticipated the video, compared to no change in the other group.
A small study, but it repeats the point: Laughter is good for you.
Researchers from Oak Crest Health Research Institute and Loma Linda University Health Care presented the information in April at a meeting of the American Physiological Society.
Check out your medications at Hillsdale — Seniors can check their prescriptions with local pharmacists from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow at Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo on the lower level at Macy’s Center Court.
According to the San Mateo County Fall Prevention Task Force, sponsor of the event, falls are the main cause of injury-related hospitalizations for San Mateo County residents 55 and over, and the leading cause of death for those over 75. A major factor in falls is improper use of medications.
If dosage is inappropriate or if certain drugs are taken together, drowsiness or loss of balance may result.
Volunteer pharmacists will explain whether medications place a patient at greater risk for falls or if certain medications should be taken together. For more information, see www.smcfallprevention.org.
Aurora Mandolin Orchestra performance — Aurora Mandolin Orchestra will perform at the Italian American Heritage Foundation’s 28th annual Italian Family Festa from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose, on Lincoln Avenue near Minnesota Avenue. For more information, visit www.auroramandolin.com. The event features Italian food, music and more.
For comments or story ideas, contact Joan Aragone at 650-348- 4332 or fogbelt2@aol.com.
Originally published by Joan Aragone, San Mateo County Times.
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