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Laughter / Your Heart Health + ha ha @ bottom
Aug 10, 2007

More evidence of laughter's heart-healthy benefits

For all my ranting and bellyaching, you should know that I'm one of the happiest people I know. Life is good. I've got my wife, my kids, my grandkid, my dogs — and best of all, I have my health, so I'm able to enjoy all of the simple pleasures of life.

It's no wonder I'm 81 years old and still raring to go. After all, I do actually follow my own advice! Forget jogging your life away on the treadmill, starving yourself on fruits and vegetables, and generally depriving yourself of all the things in life that make you happy.

Instead, load up on plenty of meat and dairy, enjoy a leisurely stroll around your neighborhood or favorite park, puff on a fine Panamanian cigar in the evening, and always sip plenty of your favorite alcoholic beverage. That's what I do.

But there's one more ingredient in my recipe for health and longevity. It's simple, it's cheap, and it's about the best medicine a body could take.

It's called laughter.

I've written to you before about the many health benefits of having a good chuckle. But every time another study gives more credence to this age-old adage, it gives me a chance to toot my own horn.

Let's take a look at some of laughter's tried and true benefits:

  • Research out of Japan showed that laughter can help keep diabetes under control. The researchers found that the diabetic patients who watched a funny video after eating a meal processed the sugar from their meals better than those who were subjected to a boring lecture.
  • Laughter has a strong correlation to circulatory and cardiovascular health. A study from the University of Maryland found that subjects who watched a funny movie experienced a 95% boost in blood flow, while those who watched a sad movie actually had a diminished blood flow.
  • Laughter boosts immunity. One study showed that watching humorous videotapes increased the activity of T-cells, the "natural killer cells" that attack viral agents.
  • Laughter releases powerful, painkilling endorphins into our blood.
And now, the University of Maryland Medical Center has added to this growing body of evidence yet another study to smile at. Keep reading…

****************************************************

Researchers at the University of Maryland added further proof to what I already knew: Laughter is good for you heart. They even went so far as to say that it can prevent heart disease. That's because laughter lowers blood pressure, which increases blood flow, and pumps more oxygen into the blood.

Makes sense when you think about it: When you laugh, you're not just doing something beneficial for your body — you're keeping yourself from doing something that research has proven to be extremely damaging: stressing out.

Over the years, studies have shown just how destructive stress can be. It can damage your cardiovascular system, suppress your immune system, and can even stunt children's growth. One study indicates that as much as 90 percent of illnesses are stress-related. Long-term stress can lead to heart attack, stroke, diabetes, cancer, ulcers, insomnia, autoimmune diseases, thyroid problems, and on, and on, and on.

You get the picture.

So take a deep breath, relax, and stop taking yourself so seriously. Then put on a funny movie, surround yourself with jokesters, or learn to laugh at yourself — whatever it takes to give your mood a boost.

And lucky for you, I've got just the thing to get you started — and it ties in perfectly with a topic I've touched on over the last few weeks. It's an email I received in my inbox a few days ago. The subject line: "Funniest staff meeting."

Just a warning: You may want to read it in private. Enjoy!

The boss of a Madison Avenue advertising agency called a spontaneous staff meeting in the middle of a particularly stressful week. When everyone gathered, the boss, who understood the benefits of having fun, told the burnt out staff the purpose of the meeting was to have a quick contest. The theme: Viagra advertising slogans.

The only rule was they had to use past ad slogans, originally written for other products that captured the essence of Viagra. Slight variations were acceptable. A few minutes later, they turned in their suggestions and created a Top 10 List. With all the laughter and camaraderie, the rest of the week went very well for everyone! The top 10 were:

10.  Viagra: Whaazzzz up!
  9.  Viagra: The quicker pecker picker upper.
  8.  Viagra: Like a rock!
  7.  Viagra: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.
  6.  Viagra: Be all that you can be.
  5.  Viagra: Reach out and touch someone.
  4.  Viagra: Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.
  3.  Viagra: Home of the whopper!
  2.  Viagra, We bring good things to Life!

And the unanimous number one slogan:

  1:   This is your peepee.   This is your peepee on drugs.


     Still laughing my ___ off,

    William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

****************************************************
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     ;">http://www.douglassreport.com/dailydose/freecopy.html

LynZ
Visibility: Everyone
Posted: Friday August 10, 2007, 5:48 am
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female, age 66, divorced, 2 children
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