COMMON SENSE NEUROSCIENCE: A Maryland School of Medicine study showed that laughter is linked to the healthy function of blood vessels. It found that laughter causes the tissue that forms the inner lining of blood vessels (the endothelium) to expand in order to increase blood flow, while stress has the opposite effect, constricting blood vessels and reducing blood flow.
The endothelium regulates blood flow, adjusts coagulation and blood thickening, and secretes chemicals and other substances in response to wounds, infections or irritation. It also plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease.
The endothelium is affected by atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, a major cause of heart disease and death.
Laughing maintains a healthy endothelium and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack and stroke. When you laugh, the blood flow increases and the blood pressure rises; but when you stop laughing, blood pressure drops back to its baseline. This relaxing effect helps bring down blood pressure. This generates deeper breathing, which in turn sends more oxygenated blood through the body.
We don’t know yet why laughing protects the heart, but we know that mental stress is associated with impairment of the endothelium, the protective barrier lining our blood vessels. This can cause a series of inflammatory reactions that lead to fat and cholesterol build-up in the coronary arteries and ultimately to a heart attack… The ability to laugh — either naturally or as learned behavior may have important implications in societies such as the U.S. where heart disease remains the number one killer.
Dr. Michael Miller, director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center
johnzegar.com
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