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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."

5 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. 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.

  3. 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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  4. 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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  5. 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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