The Laughter Prescription
by Kathleen Everett

"A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road," claimed Henry Ward Beecher. He should know, having salvaged his reputation and career after what some declared the most scandalous adultery trial in history. (Now, that's one heck of a pebble!) Commonly defined as the ability to be amused by that which is incongruous, absurd or comical, humor has lifted humans above dismal circumstances and softened the edges of some of life's most painful blows. And it can also keep us well.

Long before Dr. Norman Cousins published his now classic Anatomy of an Illness, in which he described his recovery from a life-threatening illness by harnessing the powers of humor, positive attitude and love, another classic—the Book of Proverbs—claimed that "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." And any grandma worth her chicken soup could tell you that laughter is the best medicine. Humor's ability to ease a difficult situation is hardly groundbreaking news. But Grandma's little helpers in the research departments of major universities have come up with the data to back her claim and shush those cynics. So, for those who like their folk wisdom served up with a heaping side of research, this one's for you.

When you laugh, your chest expands: increasing the oxygen to your heart, lungs and muscles. Your brain releases endorphins, those sought-after feel good chemicals responsible for the "runner's high." These same endorphins have also been shown to be natural pain relievers—Dr. Cousins noted that a few minutes of laughter brought him an hour of drug-free pain relief. When confronted with laughter, stress loses its death grip on the stomach and tension is eased. While negative thoughts can tax your body and weaken the immune system, positive thoughts actually cause a release of neuro-peptides that bolster the immune system and protect against a multitude of evils. A team of researchers at Loma Linda University conducted a study in which volunteers watched humorous movies; blood samples were taken before and throughout.

Here's a civilian's abstract of their results: Laughter increased immune system activity. Natural killer cells—those that attack alien invaders with a "destroy first, ask questions later" approach—increased in number and activity. T cells (think: Army Reserves, White Blood Cell Division) were called up. There was also an increase in antibody immunoglobulin A, which serves as a Coast Guard of sorts, protecting our ports that open to the outside world. Ditto for gamma interferon, the protein that gives different components of the immune system the command, Sic 'Em! Immunoglobulin G, our most abundant protector, and Complement 3,which helps antibodies get a leg up on infected cells, increased during laughter and continued their protective effects into the next day.

Meanwhile Dr. Michael Miller, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, was studying the effects of laughter on cardiovascular health. In this study healthy volunteers were shown both funny and disturbing movies while measurements of blood flow through the brachial artery were taken. When shown the opening scene from the movie, Saving Private Ryan, the blood vessel lining, or epithelium, responded by constricting, causing reduced blood flow. The opposite result, vasodilation, or increased blood flow, was noted in the same volunteers when they watched the comedy film Kingpin. Dr. Miller noted that "the magnitude of change" in the endothelium from 20 minutes of laughter is similar to that achieved with aerobic exercise. While he stops short of recommending that we trade in our gym membership for one in Netflix, it's clear that anyone, especially those for whom a 6K trot is not an option, would do well to exercise that funny bone on a daily basis.

Which is exactly what Dr. Madan Kataria, an Indian physician, is prescribing. Observing that his patients who laughed regularly experienced fewer sick days and a reduction in their chronic illness symptoms, the good doctor founded a system he calls Laughter Yoga, which now boasts 6000 clubs worldwide. Choreographed exercises, simulating laughter, are practiced for 15 to 20 minutes. Beginning with simply chanting, "Ho Ho, Ha Ha Ha!" while rocking and slapping one's knees, and escalating to more complex face-making and all-out belly laughing, Dr. Kataria asserts that, when practiced in a group, the infectious nature of laughter takes over and before long the laughing is no longer scripted, but a genuine mirth fest. "Fake" or not, the body reaps the benefits.

So what exactly is a sense of humor, then? Is is something we are all born with, and if not, can one be developed? And while we're at it, what is funny, anyway? I brought my burning questions to the 2008 Humor Conference on Lake George hoping to find some answers from the experts. The HUMOR Project was founded in 1977 by Dr Joel Goodman, the world's first full-time humor educator. The conference draws attendees from the worlds of business and pleasure, united in their insistence that humor is vital to life. Keynote Brett Leake spoke eloquently about how his sense of humor evolved when he was faced with a health crisis. He insists that humor is born of conflict—that in the absence of incongruity, there is no humor. He instructed us to "look for the problem" in everyday situations, because therein lies the gift. A recurring message woven through the conference was that humor is accessible to and natural in all humans—and that it can be nurtured and brought forth.

At no time is this more important then when we are experiencing stress. A registered nurse told of her work over the past 20 years establishing humor programs in hospitals and Hospice care settings. A pastor spoke of the "blessed reverence of humor." Educators described the "enhancement of learning through humor." And Thalia, the muse of comedy, was there in all her guises—slapstick, parody, situation comedy, music. Even the lowly pun was welcomed unapologetically. Some of these I found delightful. Others made me groan. And that was all right, too. A sense of humor is unique. No one else can decide for us what is funny. If it tickles you, and is not at someone else's expense, then it's funny. Period. Hardcore neuropsychobiology professor Jaak Panksepp, PhD, who has spent his career studying the physiology of emotion, states, "Play and laughter are vital to feeling good... for you not to be playing and laughing during some part of every day is unnatural and goes against fundamental biochemistry."

That's proof enough for me.