Laugh your way for better blood vessel function
Laughter appears to cause the tissue that forms the inner lining of blood vessels called the endothelium, to dilate or expand in order to increase blood flow. Laughter offsets the impact of mental stress which is harmful to the endothelium. A compound called nitric oxide is known to play a role in the dilation of the endothelium. Mental stress may lead to a breakdown in nitric oxide that results in blood vessel constriction. Hence laughing often is a great adjunct besides proper diet and regular exercise for improving blood vessel health and for relieving mental stress.
Categories: Health
Watch lots of Three Stooges! It makes you very healthy…lol.
Well, I better start finding as many stand up comedy shows I can get ahold of. Or maybe some real good happy drugs?
I just started having problems with a wierd thing called Raynauds. It affects my fingers and feet. They get extremely cold turn white like bloodless and go numb. I have read up on it and really there is nothing to be done and I’m not willing to go on vasodialator medication for a problem that is not constant. But seems to be triggered by emotional stress or cold. I live in Alaska so that doesn’t help either.
Good thing that I just went to the comedy club on Friday night. I should be good for another week after laughing as hard as we did that night.
Laughter is indeed the best medicine.
What makes life worth living? To be born with the gift of laughter and sense that the world is mad. — S. Scaramouche
Ha ha ha ha ha he he he he hee hee hee ha oh haaa ha ha hehehehe heeeeeeee!
Well, do you know any good jokes? I’m an expert laugher.
Don’t take yourself to seriously and laugh as often as possible. You will find that others will laugh with you! Go around helping others to be healthy! Get a pet and notice yourself laughing more.
Wow. I can imagine tomorrow’s prescriptions:
Tickling – To be taken at least twice a day
DO NOT TAKE WITH MEALS
Interesting… I’ve aways said that a smile is good for the soul.
Interesting because it’s the nitric oxide that’s explains the function of various nutritional supplements and the integrity of the blood vessels that gives us a lot of strength. For instance Pycnogenol decreases capillary permeability and fragility as well as providing the support structure for skin and blood vessels. Imagine how well you’d be if you laughed while taking pycnogenol.
Keep laughing everyone! It’s amazing what stress can do to your body. I watched a show on Discovery that talked in detail about how stress can cause major strokes. Constant stress throughout your life hardens your arteries and makes you a ticking time bomb.
Just wanted to let you know I wrote a response to your very interesting post here:
http://amelo14.wordpress.com/2007/10/25/reflections-on-illness-18-2/
The response is too long so I decided not to post it as a comment here. Hope my reflections might be of interest to you.
Andrés
Do you have a citation. I’d love to have it. Laughter therapy came under some attack a while ago when it was found that it didn’t change endorhin levels so much. But the experience is that it gives a lift. Note today I have posted on research on resilience and humour is certainly a part of that. Not that humour is all laughter. So maybe there are a variety of effects that help relieve the stress.
@owen59 – I don’t have a citation, i received this in an email sometime back and i thought it’s a good piece of information to be in my blog.
This has been a proven theory for years – I am always laughing & my kids are always telling jokes it is great!
I totally agree with the fact that laughter is the best medicine – being a middleaged HIV positive woman is rather like the old joke about why people living in the north of England always have a sense of humour – because you have to have a sense of humour to live there in the first place – which the same can be said about living with HIV. Without a sense of humour you would go under -
find out more at my blog for HIV women with a sense of humour -
http://www.hivine.wordpress.com
Hey–if anything, laughing can only help! at least you feel better and living life to the fullest is all that matters even if you have a chronic illness, yet even acute illness!
okie dokie…
whatever you say.
Right on. Visit me at the world’s first physician bluegrass fiction writer’s weblog:
drtombibey.wordpress.com
-Dr. B
You are very much true on this since being a medical professional I do know the effects of laughing and such cheerful acts on health. Besides my other blog, recently, I have started this health related blog as something that is niche specific, I will be glad if you could visit me and give me feedback. Looking forward to see you often. The url is:
http://health.drfarrukhmalik.com
Keep up the good work!!!
bloody hell Where did you find that gem of information?
go to http://themaddentist.wordpress.com/ and read what I have been through the last 9 years or so. Please give me an address of where you found that obviously I will be googling myself.
EXCELLENT
Taking time to laugh everyday is wise and for some, just getting their paycheck will make them laugh til’ it hurts! Ahhh the American dream! The Marx Brothers seem to do the trick with the one guy running around beeping a horn. Great info!
I know someone who watched her favorite comedy movies until she felt better when she was suffering from severe back pain and depression. Her doctor told her that she needed surgery and anti-depressants and she got well without them.
I believe it….but it is a shame so many others are always trying to think otherwise and are constantly interfering with OUR health. Let’s hope that the more this is repeated the more it will finally start to sink into others heads….Thank you for the post…L
http://bodyfaceplace.proboards59.com/index.cgi
Laughter is enjoyable and there is so much out there to laugh at including our selves. I do so many silly things each day, some on purpose and other thing by accident but all funny and laughable. If we could all just laugh at ourself we could all alot healthier.
Laughter also stimulates the release of endogenous opiates, the body’s own natural painkillers – so there’s a chemical basis for this as well, laughter truly being the best medicine!