Laughter Is Good Medicine
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola
October 23, 2023
*** begin quote ***
Story at-a-glance
- Anthropological research suggests laughter and humor are genetically built-in, and that humor, historically, has functioned as “a social glue.” The critical laughter trigger for most people is not necessarily a joke or funny movie, but rather another person
- Laughter is contagious. The sound of laughter triggers regions in the premotor cortical region of your brain, which is involved in moving your facial muscles to correspond with sound
- While children laugh on average 300 times a day, adults laugh only 17 times a day on average. Suggestions for how to get more laughter in your life are included
- In one study, even after adjusting for confounding factors, the prevalence of heart diseases among those who rarely or never laughed was 21% higher, and the ratio of stroke 60% higher, than among those who laughed every day
- Benefits of laughter have been reported in geriatrics, critical and general patient care, rehabilitation, home care, hospice care, oncology, psychiatry, rheumatology, palliative care and terminal care
*** and ***
- Observe young children and follow their lead — Find delight and amusement in the ordinary (for an example, see the laughing baby video above; the simple act of ripping paper is a source of seemingly endless delight)
- Watch comedies, go to comedy clubs and read funny books
- Spend more time with friends who make you laugh
- Remind yourself to play and have more fun
- Spend more time with optimistic, happy people
- Avoid sources of distress, be it difficult relationships, horror movies or the daily news
*** end quote ***
I resolve to watch laughing babies at least once a day.
https://rumble.com/vc2be0-laughing-lockdown-baby.html
Laugh!
—30—
Reinke Faces Life 