Do We Need Science to Measure the Health Benefits of Laughter?
In case you needed a prompt to laugh today
If you’re anything like me, this title sounds to you like it’s taken from a scene in a Monty Python film. If you don’t know that name, don’t worry.
Look, I’m no spring chicken — been around for more decades than I want to admit. So I almost spit out a mouthful of coffee when I started reviewing research on this topic.
What surprised me to this point was seeing that the scientific exploration of the health benefits of laughter is not as new as I thought. I assumed when the media started talking about studies around 2015 that it was a new area of research. Or maybe I heard a reporter say that…I don’t recall. I only know I had that impression.
Here’s something that’s crazy-cool. Research between 2010 and 2013 suggests laughing brings benefits such as boosting immunity (Sakai et al), lowering blood pressure (Dolgoff-Kaspar et al), improving mental health (Hirsch et al), and even preventing cognitive decline (Takeda et al).
But it was a “thing” long before that. Let’s just circle around here first.
Let’s take a joke break
I’ll tell it, and imagine what your response is.
Me: Knock Knock.
You: Who’s there?
Me: Jello
You: Jello who?
Me: Gelotology!
You: ????????
Me: Uh, let me explain….
First, gelo is Greek for ‘to laugh’. More to the point, in 1964 the word gelotology, meaning ‘the scientific study of laughter’, was coined by Dr. Edith Trager and Dr. W.F. Fry.
Laughter May Benefit Physical Health
Rod A. Martin, University of Western Ontario, described four ways in which laughter might benefit your physical health.
1. Vigorous laughter can…
- relax your muscles
- improve your respiration
- enhance your circulation
- increase production of endorphins
- decrease the production of stress related hormones
2. A positive emotional mindset can…
- increase pain tolerance
- enhance immunity
- Undo cardiovascular consequences of negative conditions
3. Using laughing as a coping strategy may moderate adverse effects of stress
4. Laughing may provide indirect benefits by increasing one’s level of social support. Sharing a good laugh or two with other people, then, is more than just enjoyable. Good incentive for getting together with friends to see a comedy movie or live stand-up comedy. Or just talking and laughing.
Show Me The Science
I hear your cognitive wheels turning as you’re probably thinking “Uh…OK, Lee. That’s all nice and cozy, but how did they come to that conclusion?
Here’s an example of a randomized controlled trial that was carried out in Japan in 2017. Researchers were assessing the influence of laughing therapy on the quality of life (QOL) among cancer patients.
Fifty six subjects aged 40–65 were placed randomly into either the Intervention Group (laughter) or the Control Group (no laughter). Those in the Intervention group went to a laughing therapy session once every two weeks for seven weeks. They had 4 sessions in total, which involved laughter yoga and verbal comedy performances.
A thirty-item, cancer-specific questionnaire was given to all fifty six subjects three times throughout the study. Each progressive itteration had adjustments in questions whose answers were time-dependent.
If you’d like to know more detail about this study, go here to the original paper.
No Science Needed Here
OK you all. I have something to confess. Right here, right now. My motivation for writing about this topic was to share some bad English with you.
This morning I opened my email to find a wacky long list of bad English. It allegedly appeared on signs seen in non-English countries around the globe.
The effect this bad English had on me was remarkable. I laughed. And laughed. And …gasped for air. Deep, belly laughs — the kind that make you tear-up. This is why I want to share them with you.
Warning
The following content may seem rude. Please do not, at any time, feel offended. No offense was intended at the time of writing this copy. Remember, the writers did not understand the meaning of what they wrote.
Wacky English Signs From Around The World
In a Bangkok Temple: IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER A WOMAN, EVEN A FOREIGNER, IF DRESSED AS A MAN.
Cocktail Lounge, Norway: LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR.
Doctor’s Office, Rome: SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.
Dry Cleaners, Bangkok: DROP YOUR TROUSERS HERE FOR THE BEST RESULTS.
On the main road to Mombasa, leaving Nairobi: TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE.
On a poster in Kenya: ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO, WE CAN HELP.
In an unknown city restaurant: OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK AND WEEKENDS.
In an unknown cemetery: PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS, FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES.
Tokyo hotel’s rules and regulations: GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE, OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS, IN BED.
On the menu of a Swiss Restaurant: OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR.
In a Tokyo Bar: SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS.
Hotel, Yugoslavia: THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB OF THE CHAMBERMAID.
Hotel, Japan: YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID.
In the lobby of a Moscow Hotel, across from a Russian Orthodox Monastery: YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY, WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY, EXCEPT THURSDAY.
A sign posted in Germany’s Black Forest: IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN ON OUR BLACK FOREST CAMPING SITE THAT PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT SEX, FOR INSTANCE, MEN AND WOMEN, LIVE TOGETHER IN ONE TENT, UNLESS THEY ARE MARRIED WITH EACH OTHER FOR THIS PURPOSE.
Hotel, Zurich: BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.
Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand: WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE ON YOUR OWN ASS?
Airline ticket office, Copenhagen: WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
A Laundry in Rome: LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND THEN SPEND THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.
And finally, the all-time classic seen in an Abu Dhabi Souk shop window: IF THE FRONT IS CLOSED, PLEASE ENTER THROUGH MY BACKSIDE.
Final Takeaway
Looping back up to the top, then, do we need science to measure the health benefits of laughter? I think you’ll agree that we do. (If you don’t, please leave me a note in the comments below.) Not to be mistaken with the question of whether we need science to know if laughing benefits our health. Of course we don’t.
