Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

He Who Laughs – Lives! Column for the week of August 15-21, 2004

archives |

printer-friendly version

Ever since Norman Cousins’s best selling 1979 book Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient: Reflections on Healing and Regeneration was published more and more studies have surfaced to promote the healing power of humor. Cousins was editor of The Saturday Review for almost forty years. When stricken with a life threatening arthritic disease, the almost paralyzed Cousins was given only a few months to live. He didn’t seem to be making good progress with his drug treatment so he left the hospital and prescribed himself a healthy dose of laugher. He watched old Marx Brothers’ movies, among other things, and read humor books. He discovered that “ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep.” To the amazement of his doctors he slowly regained the use of his limbs and recovered.

A number of studies have been done on humor therapy. They are finding that laughter can boost immune systems, provide higher pain tolerance, increase respiratory capacities, reduce heart attack risk, help control diabetic blood sugar levels, relax muscles, decrease stress hormones, and curb allergy symptoms. Like Voltaire said, “The art of medicine consists of keeping the patient amused while nature heals the disease.” Or more simply put, “A cheerful heart is good medicine.” (Proverbs 17:21)

Here are some recent findings: Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University research team found that smiling could help keep you from catching a cold. Japanese scientists discovered that skin conditions such as rashes, eczema, and rosacea are reduced as much as 75% through laughter. A study from Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine shows laughter fights off infections. Dr. Michael Miller, director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology in Maryland, says that laughter expands capillaries which increase blood and oxygen flow through your body. According to a study from the University of California College of Medicine in Irvine, CA just anticipating something funny can counteract stress levels.

And my personal favorite is from Stanford University indicating that laughing for just 30 seconds has the same aerobic effect of three minutes of exercise. So don’t feel guilty watching those old I Love Lucy reruns unless, of course, you are chowing down on chips and dip. Even laughter has its limitations!

Laughter is good medicine and coupled with a positive attitude creates a deadly combination…or should I say life-affirming combination. It’s one thing to laugh at the antics of another in a movie, TV show, book, cartoon, or comic monologue but quite another to see the funny side of everyday life. If would behoove all of us to look at small annoyances as small annoyances and not life shattering events. Humor can give us a sense of perspective on our problems.

Unfortunately, how does one laugh if one does not have a sense of humor? Some grumpy Gusses wouldn’t laugh if you wiggled a feather on the bottom of their foot or any other part of their anatomy. To aid in determining whether or not you have a sense of humor, I’ve devised this test. Read these two jokes and see how your body responds.

Joke # 1:

A man is feeling ill. He and his wife go to the doctor. After a thorough examination the doctor asks the man to leave so he can talk privately to his wife. “Mrs. Jones,” he says. “ Your husband is a sick man. Unless you do the following he will die. Cater to his every need. Cook all his favorite meals. Give him all the sex he can handle. Laugh at his jokes. Make him feel like he is the most important person on the face of the earth.”

On the way home Mr. Jones asks, “What did the doctor say?”

“I have bad news for you, honey.” Mrs. Jones responds. “You’re gonna die.”

Joke #2:

Mrs. Smith went to the doctor for an examination. She shared with the doctor that she had silent gas. It seemed to come often. She just kept passing this silent gas wherever she went. “Doctor, what can I do?”

The doctor looked politely at her and responded with, “Well, the first thing we need to do, Mrs. Smith, is to get your hearing checked.”

If you laughed even a little then you’re on the right track. If you smiled, that’s okay, too! Maybe people who can’t laugh could start with smiling. It’s something you can force and no one knows the difference. In fact smiling not only enhances your life but the lives of those you meet.

Be sure to visit this page every week to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.