Laughter really is the best medicine and should be prescribed on NHS, scientists say
LAUGHTER may actually be the best medicine for heart disease, scientists say.
Chuckling along to comedy shows helps boost the organ’s ability to pump blood around the body, Brazilian researchers found.
They said laughter therapy should be offered more widely on the NHS alongside drugs like statins.
Professor Marco Saffi, of the Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, said: “People with heart disease could be invited to comedy evenings.
“People should try to do things that make them laugh at least twice a week.
“Laughter is good for the brain and good for the heart. Laughter therapy could be used in the future to help patients with heart disease, and help reduce dependence on medication.”
Around 7.6million Brits have heart disease and 160,000 die from it every year.
It occurs when the heart’s blood supply is blocked or interrupted by a build-up of fatty substances in the coronary arteries, which can lead to heart attacks.
Symptoms include chest pain and shortness of breath, and patients are also at risk of heart failure.
Drugs like statins can help and some patients need surgery to widen the artery.
The study, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Amsterdam, involved 26 adults with an average age of 64.
They had all been diagnosed with coronary artery disease, caused by plaque buildup in the wall of the arteries that supply blood to the heart.
Half were asked to watch two different hour-long comedy programmes each week, including popular sitcoms, over three months.
The other half watched two different serious documentaries every week, about topics such as politics or the Amazon rainforest.
At the end of the study, the comedy group saw a 10 per cent improvement in their VO2 max, a test measuring how much oxygen their heart could pump around the body.
Their flow-mediated dilation – a test which measures how well arteries can expand – also improved.
They also had blood tests to measure several inflammatory biomarkers, which indicate how much plaque has built up in the blood vessels, and whether people are at risk of heart attack or stroke.
The laughter group saw significant reductions in these inflammatory markers, compared to the control group.
Professor James Leiper, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “While this study reveals the interesting possibility that laughter could in fact be a therapy for coronary artery disease, this small trial will need to be replicated to get a better understanding of how laughter therapy may be helping these patients.
“It’s encouraging to see that something so simple and widespread could benefit our health, but more research is needed to determine whether laughter alone led to the improvements seen, and how long the effects could last.”