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Why Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Posted by timothy on from the because-of-reader's-digest dept.

John writes "We know that laughter can be helpful in stressful situations, but researchers are discovering that laughter can do a lot more. When we laugh, we not only create an overall feeling of well-being for ourselves, but also release cells such as Gamma-interferon, T-cells and B-cells - all of which make disease-destroying antibodies. Not only are we releasing more of them, we are also making these crucial cells more active. Organisations such as Camp Quality have acknowledged this -- naturally, their slogan affirms that 'laughter is the best medicine.' Click here to read more."

10 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. Heh heh... by tunah · · Score: 4, Funny
    Hee hee... Gamma-interferon, T-cells and B-cells - all of which make disease-destroying antibodies.

    Okay, I don't get it.

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  2. Autoimmune Problems by DustMagnet · · Score: 3, Funny
    So, since I have an over active immune system (allergies and asthma), I should avoid laughing?

    Ha! I don't think so. LOL

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    'SBEMAIL!' is better than a goat!!
    1. Re:Autoimmune Problems by dpilot · · Score: 3, Funny

      Perhaps it's not that you should avoid laughing, but that you are laughing at the wrong things. Maybe if you laughed at the right things, your immune system would quit attacking the wrong things.

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      The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    2. Re:Autoimmune Problems by Lars+T. · · Score: 3, Funny

      Mod the parent "+1, Healthy".

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      Lars T.

      To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

    3. Re:Autoimmune Problems by tid242 · · Score: 4, Interesting
      So, since I have an over active immune system (allergies and asthma), I should avoid laughing?

      Asthma and allergies are a result of type I hypersensitivity reactions which mean they primarily are mediated via IgE, mast cells, and basophils (and therefore histamine), which is very different than plasma cells pumping out antibodies (IgG not IgE), and don't have a whole lot to do with gamma-IFN...

      -tid242

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  3. Disease-destroying antibodies by fluor2 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    "When we laugh, we not only create an overall feeling of well-being for ourselves, but also release cells such as Gamma-interferon, T-cells and B-cells - all of which make disease-destroying antibodies."

    Well you can say what you want, but this might not be because the body is "healing itself". I believe it's more like a function to prevent from being infected by some diseases. We all know that we mostly laugh when other people are present, rite? So the probability of being infected are greater when you are laughing.

  4. Every time I hear "laughter is the best medicine". by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think of this quote:

    "Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess was
    why several of us died of tuberculosis." --Jack Handey

  5. This is well-known in hebrew culture by Trogre · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Proverbs 17:22:
    A merry heart does good like medicine.

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    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  6. Re:-1 when it goes into voting. by PD · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The same person posted the same story to both sites. Bad form, possibly, but not plagarism.

    Oh, and moderators, GET A CLUE. Offtopic is NOT the right moderation for this. Seriously folks, if you can't select the right item from a very short list, I don't know you ever were potty trained.

    --
    If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
  7. World's best medicine discovered? by Tidan · · Score: 4, Informative

    The world's funniest joke has just been discovered by a group of british scientists. The story is all over the web, here's the link to the CNN article.

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