HEALTHYWAY ARTICLE

JANUARY 21,2000

HEALING WITH HUMOUR: LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE

We all know the benefits of "an apple a day," but have you heard the good news about "a Seinfeld a day,: or" an Ally McBeal a day?" It may surprise you to know that laughter does more than tickle your funny bone - a good joke can do wonders for your entire body.

Laughter as medicine was first taken seriously when Norman Cousins, a famous author and writer, developed a debilitating and painful form of arthritis almost 35 years ago. To supplement traditional therapies, Cousins exposed himself to humour- lots of it. He read funny books, watched slapstick comedy and told jokes constantly. Over time, Cousins claimed that this "laughter therapy" made his illness less painful and eventually cured him. In 1976, he published an article about his experience in the New England Journal of Medicine, beginning a debate about the healing power of humour.

Since Cousins' article, doctors and scientists have made some fascinating discoveries about the physiological effects of laughter. "When we laugh, our heart rate increases. When we finish laughing, it then decreases to a rate slower than before we started to laugh," says Dr. Mel Borins, a family doctor in Toronto who gives workshops on humour and healing and is the author of An Apple A Day: A Holistic health Primer.

"Tension in our muscles increases when we laugh and lessens once we're done. Increased respiration from laughing clears out the dead spaces in our lungs, areas that normally don't get oxygenated," Dr. Borins explains.

Whether we're chuckling, giggling or chortling, the brain releases the neurotransmitter seratonin, thought to improve one's sense of well-being, and hormones called catecholamines, which cause the release of endorphins, the same stress-reducers stimulated by exercise.

"An interesting study was done around immunoglobulin A, a substance found in your saliva and the first defence your body has against viruses and bacteria. A group of people were given a funny video to watch, while another group watched a documentary. Afterwards, both groups were tested and those who had watched the comedy had higher levels of immunoglobulin A," Dr. Borins says.

"A similar study was also conducted on people who had survived a heart attack. They were given a funny video to watch every day for one year. These people had less complications and lived longer than those who had not watched the videos," Dr. Borins adds.

While the physiological benefits of laughter are proven, our health is no laughing matter. Most of us take our visits to the doctor very seriously and we're more than a little reluctant to joke around with people who have serious illnesses. But light-hearted fun may be just what the doctor should order. For proof check out The Cancer Club, a website built by a woman who has cancer and isn't afraid to share some laughs online.

Dr. Borins incorporates laughter into his medical practice whenever he can. He runs a popular "joke of the month" contest and tries to maintain a balance of serious professionalism with joy and laughter. One of his patients, in particular, has inspired him: "a patient of mine was in a concentration camp during the war. He said that the only way he survived was by maintaining his sense of humour. No matter how bad things got, he always managed to laugh. He said it kept him human," Dr. Borins says.