Hearty laugh the best cure for your heart- study

The research findings show that watching a funny movie or television show is good for health since hearty laugh has a positive effect on the cardiovascular function, while a stressful or scary movie narrows blood vessels that could result in strained functioning of heart, eventually leading to heart problems.

“The idea to study positive emotions such as laughter came about after studies had shown that mental stress caused blood vessels to constrict,” said Dr. Michael Miller, Professor of Medicine and the lead investigator.

Study details
For the initial study conducted by Miller and colleagues more than a decade ago, the research team surveyed 300 men and women with or without heart disease, who completed a questionnaire related to situational-humor.

The volunteers were asked about situations like how would you respond if you went to a party and saw someone wearing the same clothes as you. They responded on a scale of 1 to 5-ranging from not funny at all to very funny.

The study subjects with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to find these situations funny.

Laughter improves vessel function
Inspired by these findings, the researchers carried out next series of studies in which they tested whether laughter may directly affect vessel function.

In the study, volunteers watched few hilarious segments of a funny movie, such as “There’s Something About Mary” on one day and watched the violent opening segment of the stressful movie “Saving Private Ryan” on another day.

Study findings
The blood vessel lining of the study people who watched movie that that causes mental stress produced unhealthy response called vasoconstriction, which reduces blood flow. Further, watching such movie showed development of atherosclerosis, a common disorder in which fatty material collects along the walls of arteries.

But when those same volunteers watched clips of the comedy movie, the blood vessel lining actually expanded.

After more than 300 measurements conducted on the arms of the volunteers, Miller’s team found a 30-50 percent difference in blood vessel diameter between the laughter and mental stress phases.

“The take-home message here is that laughter is great for your heart. The magnitude of change we saw in the endothelium (or inner cell wall of a blood vessel), after laughing was consistent and similar to the benefit we might see with aerobic exercise or statin use,” said Miller.

More research needed
The study authors think laughing should be made a part of everyday healthy lifestyle. However, they say more studies are required to establish a link between laughter and the vascular health.

“What we really need is a randomized clinical trial to determine whether positive emotions reduce cardiovascular events above and beyond today’s standard of care therapies,” concluded Miller.

Miller’s team presented the study on Aug. 28, 2011 at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris.