Laughter is an interesting concept.
I’ve been told that tickling causing laughter is a form of cry for help. That you are in a situation that you want to get out of- so you laugh to make noise to inform others you are in danger. Most of the time it’s fun to be tickled- but there is definitely a line where sometimes the tickling hurts more than it tickles when people push harder thinking it’ll tickle more.
And of course you’ve heard the saying “Laughter is the best medicine.”
Well doctors at Loma Linda University in California put that phrase to the test. Exposing 14 volunteers to 20min clips of Saturday Night Live- their blood pressure and cholesterol levels lowered when they were laughing.
Other studies have shown that laughter may also help fight off infection. Laughter boosts the performance of the immune system by increasing the production of antibodies and the activityty of natural-killer cells.
And for all the newly mothers out there- the quality of brest milk can be improved by laughter- making it more effective at fighting skin allergies in newborns.
On a different note- studies show that laughing more, really leads to a shorter life than those who do not. At La Sierra University in Riverside CA- they found that the most cheerful of 1,215 Americas (determined by looking at their psychological profiles) were also more likely to die young.
In fact- a cheerfulness rating in the top quarter of the population increased the risk of death at any point in the life by a whopping 21% over the risk for those who fell in the bottom quarter. Very interesting indeed.
Well all I know is that I love to laugh. If that means I die earlier- then so be it. But at least I’ll enjoy life a lot more 🙂
Photography + Science = Chanel 