LAUGH FOR THE HEALTH OF IT

NOTE TO SELF: APRIL IS "NATIONAL HUMOR MONTH"


It seems fitting that National Humor Month takes place in April, a month that arrives with the warmer Spring weather.

National Humor Month was founded in 1976 by best-selling humorist Larry Wilde, Director of The Carmel Institute of Humor. It is designed to heighten public awareness on how the joy and therapeutic value of laughter can improve health, boost morale, increase communication skills and enrich the quality of one's life.

It's virtually impossible to feel sad while laughing so it stands to reason that laughter is good for one's health. A study, which is the first to indicate that laughter may help prevent heart disease, presented at the American Heart Association's 73rd Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, researchers found that people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared to people of the same age without heart disease.

In the study, researchers compared the humor responses of 300 people. Half of the participants had either suffered a heart attack or had undergone coronary artery bypass surgery. The other 150 were healthy, age-matched participants who did not have heart disease.

Participants in the study were asked to complete two questionnaires. One questionnaire had a series of multiple-choice answers to find out how much or how little the participant laughs in certain situations. The second questionnaire used 50 true or false answers to measure anger and hostility.

For example, the questions included the following:

From the multiple-choice section:

If you arrived at a party and found that someone else was wearing a piece of clothing identical to yours, would you (a) not find it particularly amusing (b) be amused but not show it outwardly (c) smile (d) laugh or (e) laugh heartily.
If you were eating in a restaurant with some friends and the waiter accidentally spilled a drink on you, would you (a) not find it particularly amusing (b) be amused but not show it outwardly (c) smile (d) laugh or (e) laugh heartily.

From the true or false section:
I often wonder what hidden reasons another person may have for doing something nice for me. True or False.
I am likely not to talk to people until they speak to me. True or False

People with heart disease were less likely to recognize humor or use it to get out of uncomfortable situations. They generally laughed less, even in positive situations and they displayed more anger and hostility.

(Source:) http://www.umm.edu/news/releases/laughter.htm

There's a great article on the value of laughter geared for children here, that explains the whole process:

http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?p=335&np=287&id=2424

Finally, if you're a pet owner, then you just might have noted that your pet smiles, which could indicate a sense of humor present. In fact, research has been done that confirms this. There's a great article on National Geographic Kids that examines the subject:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/0604/

To your health! Laugh - it's good for you! Meanwhile, if you have some good family-fare jokes to share...post them here.