Blood Chemistry                          back to list 

           

Laughter May Indeed Be the Best Medicine

Study Shows Laughing Changes Blood Chemistry, Helps Protect Against Disease, Depression

Commentary by Lee Dye     ABC News

(excerpt)

 

May 10, 2006 -- Let that belly laugh out. New research shows that it can literally change your blood chemistry and help protect you from disease and depression.

Now, researchers at Loma Linda University in Southern California say they have found a physiological change that occurs when people laugh, and it lasts long after the laughter subsides.

They recruited 16 healthy males and divided them into two groups. Blood was drawn from all the subjects before the experiment, four times during the hour-long video, and three times afterward. Members of one group watched a funny movie of their choice, but the second group didn't get to see the film.

The results, Berk says, were dramatic.

Even before the movie began, and long after it ended, the blood chemistry in the group watching the movie changed. Beta-endorphins, the so called body's own morphine rose by 27 percent and human growth hormone rose by 87 percent compared to the group that didn't see the movie.

That's significant, Berk says, because of the role both those substances play.

"Endorphins are the stuff that make you feel good," he says. "It's the stuff that's related to orgasmic response. It's the runner's high."

It also slows down the heart rate, reduces blood pressure and opens air passages.

Human growth hormone "cranks up at night, when you and I are asleep," Berk says. "It's one of the hormones that helps re-tune a lot of things. And it tunes up and optimizes the immune system."

Thus, his findings indicate there is a physiological basis for the good things that come from laughing.

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