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Exercise your funny bone
Vegetarian Times, June, 2001 by Maria Rabat
Grab the remote and flip to Comedy Central--your heart health may depend on it. A study conducted at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore suggests that a sense of humor and the ability to laugh may help protect against a heart attack. Researchers discovered that respondents with coronary heart disease (CHD) were 40 percent less likely to laugh as individuals of the same age without heart disease.
Researchers compared the humor responses of 300 people of which one half either suffered a heart attack or had coronary bypass surgery; the other half had no history of heart disease. Participants answered two questionnaires. The first was made up of 20 multiple-choice questions designed to measure how much or how little they laughed in certain situations, and the second measured anger and hostility through a series of true or false questions.
Cardiologists found that heart patients were less likely to rely on humor to get through uncomfortable situations, such as arriving to a party wearing the same outfit as the host or having water spilled on them by a waiter at a restaurant. Both questionnaires showed that even under agreeable conditions, heart disease sufferers laughed less and displayed more anger and hostility. Overall, respondents with a humor score above 50 (highest possible score was 105) exhibited a significantly reduced risk of coronary heart disease, suggesting that CHD may be associated with a less-than-adequate sense of humor.
This research backs up previous studies on health and laughter. In the past, laughter has been shown to strengthen the immune system and reduce inflammation of the heart, a condition associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. These latest findings suggest that a good sense of humor may contribute to a heart-healthy lifestyle. So, have you heard the one about the bear who walks into a bar carrying a fish and a French horn and orders a beer?
COPYRIGHT 2001 Vegetarian Times, Inc. All rights reserved.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
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