Laughter as an age extender

LAUGHTER AS AN AGE EXTENDER

Ever since the late Saturday Review editor Norman Cousins published Anatomy of an Illness, documenting how he used laughter in combination with his therapy to overcome a potentially fatal connective tissue disease, the medical profession has given the therapeutic power of humor a serious second look. One study found that people who watched a 60-minute comedy video boosted production of white blood cells-the ones that fight disease- by 39 percent and decreased levels of a hormone that triggers stress by 46 percent. In another study in 1996, one of the leading researchers in this area found that blood samples from men who viewed a humorous video contained increased levels of a chemical that fights viruses and strengthens the immune system.
But the researcher, Lee Berk, Dr. P.H., clinical preventive care clinician and assistant research professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Loma Linda University School of Medicine in Loma Linda, California, does not take credit for first recognizing the healthful benefits of good humor. He points to a much earlier document: the Bible. "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones," we are told in Proverbs 17:22.
Someone tells a joke. The corners of your mouth curl up. Your face crinkles. Depending on the vintage and virtue of the humor (Henny Youngman, Richard Pryor, Jerry Seinfeld), you emit a chuckle, giggle, chortle, a heh-heh, or a deep-bellied riotous guffaw. That laughter is the behavioral response to a perceptual process known as humor, explains Patty Wooten, R.N., of Santa Cruz, California, who performs as a professional clown for hospital patients and is the author of Compassionate Laughter.
She breaks down the physical action into two stages similar to exercise: the arousal phase, when all physiological hell breaks loose; and the resolution phase, when that guffaw simmers down and you return to a normal resting rate. During vigorous sustained laughter, your heart rate can rise as high as 120 beats per minute. Respiration also jumps, resulting in faster and deeper breaths. And that sends more oxygen into your blood. A variety of muscle groups become active: diaphragm, abdominal, facial - even legs, arms, and back muscles when it's a real knee-slapper. This increases the flow of blood throughout the body. All in all, laughter gives you a good physical workout. In fact, researchers have found that 100 laughs are the aerobic equivalent of 10 minutes on a rowing machine. And, as we all know by now, aerobic exercise is one of the best ways to keep our hearts hardy and assure us years more of laughter.
As for the mind, Wooten says, a good yuk "helps us change our perspective on our problems and enables us to develop an attitude of detachment, a sense of self-protection, and control over our environment and other nasty negative influences."

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GENERAL HEALTH

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