1 - Heart Health
The top story was about the work of Michael Miller, MD, from the University of Maryland. Miller found that
laughter causes blood vessel dilatation. The importance of this is that laughter can improve circulatory and
cardiovascular health.
2 - Immune System Benefits
Dr. Lee Berk's study showed that laughter causes endorphin release. The findings have yet to be published but
since endorphins help keep our immune system healthy, this could be an important never-before-documented discovery.
3 - Children vs. Adult Laughter
For years, it has often been claimed that adults only laugh 15 times a day while children laugh 300 to 400 times.
Dr. Rod Martin
found that a review of the literature does not support this claim. In fact, indications are that adults might actually
laugh a bit more than children.
4 - Good Exercise
Another study, from Dublin, Ireland, shows that laughter causes a rise in blood pressure. Other studies show that
blood pressure drops for a time when we stop laughing. Which is very much like aerobic exercise.
So put away your
running shoes and start laughing.
5 - Laugh to Loose Weight
At Vanderbilt University researchers found that laughter burns a bit more than one calorie per minute. Fifteen minutes of
laughter every day could lead you to lose up to four pounds per year.
(Of course, if you are eating a bowl of ice cream
while laughing, I'm not sure what it would do to the statistics in this study.)