Blood Vessel Relaxation Therapy Wichita KS

Is Laughter the Best Medicine?

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Comparing the effects of funny and stressful movies, researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore have shown for the first time that laughter is linked to healthy blood vessel function.

Their study included a group of 20 nonsmoking, healthy volunteers, equally divided between men and women, with an average age of 33. Results showed that brachial artery flow was detrimentally reduced in 14 of the 20 volunteers following a viewing of movie clips that caused mental stress. In contrast, beneficial blood vessel relaxation was increased in 19 of the 20 volunteers after they watched movie segments generating laughter.

Laughter creates a positive change in the tissue that forms the inner lining of the blood vessels in a manner similar to the benefit received through aerobic activity, but without the aches, pains and muscle tension associated with exercise, according to principal investigator Michael Miller, M.D., director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Couch potatoes beware: Don’t think you can replace exercise with laughter. For the greatest benefit to your vascular system, Miller and his colleagues still recommend 30 minutes of exercise three times per week, along with 15 minutes of mirth on a daily basis.

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