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The Health Benefits of Comedy

Many people look to comedy as an escape from the stresses of their everyday lives, from tough job situations and health problems to financial issues and pure exhaustion. Whether you go to see a stand-up comic at your local nightclub or catch a laugh-at-loud romantic comedy movie at the theater, laughing can be a relaxing process that brings upon a variety of health benefits.

  1. Immune Response

    • Laughing is positive for the body's immune response. With high stress levels, the immune system doesn't have as rapid a reaction time. Comedy and humor are capable of increasing the body's antibodies (which can defend against infection) and increasing immune cell levels. When you laugh, your stress hormones fall off, which can help to enhance your resistance and resilience against illness and disease.

    Heart Problems

    • Comedy can also protect people against serious heart problems. Research by the University of Maryland indicates that laughing a lot can lower your chances of experiencing both heart disease and heart attack. This is because emotional stress is linked to problems with the endothelium, and can bring on inflammatory situations that trigger the accumulation of cholesterol and fat within the arteries. This buildup can ultimately cause a heart attack.

    Mental Health

    • Comedy and laughing can also offer a bevy of advantages to your mental and emotional health by relieving stress and tension. Laughing can prevent mood problems such as anxiety and depression, and can also make people more resilient in the face of life's toughest obstacles.

    Breathing

    • Comedy can also positively affect the breathing. When a person laughs, it releases air from the lungs, which provides cleansing and emptying benefits. This action closely resembles deep breathing, and can be helpful for people with serious respiratory conditions such as asthma.

    Blood Pressure

    • Laughing can also decrease the blood pressure, assisting people that suffer from hypertension. It can bring on deeper breathing, which then transmits nutrients and blood that is full of oxygen all over the body. Laughing can promote both blood oxygenation and vascular flow.

    Exercise

    • Comedy can also provide the body with some easy exercise. When a person laughs heartily and enthusiastically, the action works out the diaphragm, moves the shoulders and expands the abdomen, which results in calmer muscles.

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