“Laugh well at least twice a week”; shows a Brazilian study

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“Our study found that laughter therapy increased the functional capacity of the cardiovascular system,” said Marco Saffi, lead author of the study and a doctor at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre in Brazil.

The disease described in the study is caused by the buildup of plaque on the walls of the arteries that supply blood to the heart. In this trial, scientists examined whether laughter therapy could improve the symptoms of patients with heart disease.

For three months, half of the participants were asked to watch two different one-hour comedy shows per week, including popular sitcoms. The other half watched two documentaries on more serious subjects, on topics like politics or the Amazon rainforest.

At the end of the study period, the group that watched the comedy improved by 10 percent on a test measuring how much oxygen their hearts could pump throughout the body. They also improved the arterial expansion index. The group had a better result in blood transport.

They also performed blood tests to measure several inflammatory biomarkers, which indicate how much plaque has built up in blood vessels and whether people are at risk of heart attack or stroke. The results showed that these inflammatory markers were significantly reduced compared to the other group.

“When patients with coronary heart disease arrive at hospital, they have many inflammatory biomarkers. Inflammation plays an important role in the process of atherosclerosis, when plaque builds up in the arteries. Laughter therapy could be implemented in institutions and health systems like the NHS for patients at risk of heart problems,” says Saffi.

The doctor says comedy shows don’t have to be TV-focused. He said patients can attend live comedy sessions or be encouraged to go out and have fun with a group of friends and family on certain evenings for a good laugh. “People should try to do things that make them laugh at least twice a week,” he says.

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Despite the positive results, researchers say more research needs to be done to reach stronger conclusions. Saffi, however, remains hopeful and says that in the near future, laughter could help reduce drug dependence.