Why laughter is the best medicine

In what part of the text can you find the following information :

1) Some doctors make humor a part of their medical consultation;

2) Laughter affects the state of our body like running or quick walking;

3) The mankind is losing its ability to laugh;

4) Laughter is an effective painkiller;

5) Laughter therapy in action;

6) Laughter improves both our mental and physical condition

a) A group of adults are lying in a circle on the floor listening to a recording of The Laughing Policeman. At first everyone feels ridiculous and there's only the odd nervous giggle, but suddenly the laughter becomes real, it quickly spreads around the room until everyone is infected by it.

b) Doctors are starting to believe that laughter not only improves your state of mind but actually affects your entire physical well-being. The people lying in a circle are attending a workshop to learn the forgotten art of laughter.

Britain's first laughter therapist, Robert Holden says: 'Instinctively we know that laughing helps us feel healthy and alive. Each time we laugh we feel better and more content.'

c) A French newspaper found that in 1930 the French laughed on average for nineteen minutes per day. By 1930 this had fallen to six minutes. Eighty per cent of the people questioned said that they would like to laugh more. Other research suggests that children laugh on average about 400 times a day, but by the time they reach adulthood this has been reduced to about fifteen times.

d) William Fry - a psychiatrist from California - studied the effects of laughter on. the body. He got patients to watch Laurel and Hardy films, and monitored their blood pressure, heart rate and muscle tone. He found that laughter has a similar effect to physical exercise. It speeds up the heart rate, increases blood pressure and quickens breathing. Fry thinks laughter is a type of jogging on the spot.

e) Laughter can even provide a kind of pain relief. Fry has proved that laughter produces endorphins -chemicals in the body that relieve pain.

Researchers from Texas tested this. The first group listened to a funny cassette for twenty minutes, the second listened to a cassette intended to relax them, the third heard an informative tape, while the fourth group listened to no tape at all. Researchers found that if they produced pain in the students, those who had listened to the humorous tape could tolerate the discomfort for much longer.

f) Patch Adams is both a doctor and a performing clown in Virginia, America. 'There's evidence to suggest that laughter stimulates the immune system,' says Adams, yet hospitals and clinics_are well-known for their depressing atmospheres.' Adams practises what he preaches. He wears his waist-length hair in a ponytail and also has a handlebar moustache. He usually puts on a red nose when seeing patients.

How does stress affect health ?

S tress is perceived via the brain and sent to three specific parts of the body :

• The 'action' muscles, arm and legs muscles for example

• The vital organs like the heart, lungs etc.

• The glands and parts of the brain responsible for altering the biochemistry within the body.

In this way, the body prepares for the classic 'fight or flight' response to a situation. The muscles are primed for fighting or running. The heart beats faster to supply blood, oxygen and energy to the body. The glands, notably the adrenal glands produce adrenaline, a sort of 'turbo boost' for the body in a stressful situation.

This response is said to have evolved during the time when mankind had to fight to protect his territory or possessions or run from dangerous animals or foe. The response has stayed with man in the modern age but does not work as well when the stressful incidents are internal and chronic rather than external and intermittent. So how does this stress affect the health ?

Stress affects people in different ways

Stress affects everyone in different ways so it is impossible to give a definitive list of health complaints due to stress. However, for sudden stressful events typical symptoms are:

• tension headaches

• shallow breathing

• tightening of muscles, for example the clenching of a jaw or fists is a telltale sign.

• a rise in blood pressure

For chronic, persistent and unrelieved stress the affects on health are far more serious. Typical symptoms include:

• Heart disease is common in people under high and continued stress. This stress is just as likely to be mental and emotional as it is to be physical stress. Strokes and artery clogging are also thought to be caused by stress.

• Lowering of the immune system which leads to increased chances of catching flu, colds and other infections. It is thought that the white blood cells that defend the body against these infections are reduced in people that undergo prolonged stress.

• Gastrointestinal problems like diarrhea, constipation, stomach cramps and irritable bowel syndrome are all thought to be caused and aggravated by high levels of stress.

• Brain functions can be reduced or diminished by high levels of stress. Hence a persons ability to concentrate on things can be affected. They can suffer from memory loss nd find learning difficult. Sleeping patterns can be severely disrupted or insomnia.

• Other symptoms include increased insulin resistance, blood clots due to changed consistency of blood, joint pain and tension headaches.

As you can see the symptoms can be varied and can be a combination or all of the above so it is extremely hard to combat prolonged and chronic stress. The secret to dealing with this stress before it gets to the stage of no return is to be aware of the changes in the body. The body responds to stress in ways listed above. By reacting to this change and altering your behaviour to limit the stressful events you can reduce the chances of serious health complications occurring.

What Are Your Stress Symptoms?

Stress Symptoms Can Vary From Person To Person.

We all experience stress in our daily lives from different sources: jobs, relationships, finances. And whether you’re dealing with a daily stressor, chronic stress, or a major life challenge like illness or divorce, stress can take a significant toll on you both physically and emotionally. How do you know when you’re dealing with a level of stress that’s unhealthy for you?

The answer to this question can be tricky for a few reasons:

• Stress affects the body in many different ways. Some of these are obvious, but others may not be as noticeable or easy to detect until they become more severe.

• Different people are affected more or less intensely, and in different ways.

• The effects of stress often look like symptoms of other illnesses (partially due to the fact that stress lowers immunity and makes us vulnerable to many things), sometimes people mistake symptoms of illness for stress and vice versa.

• People who thrive on stress tend to feel it as their natural state, making it more difficult to discern stress symptoms until after much of their stress is alleviated.

• When under high levels of stress, people often find it difficult to stop and notice their body’s responses.

While stress affects everyone in a unique way, there are certain factors that are common. If you are experiencing any of the following, it could be a sign that you’re being affected by stress:

• Headaches: Certain types of headaches can be related to stress. If you’re experiencing more headaches, especially tension headaches, stress could be the culprit.

• More Frequent Colds or Flu: There’s an inverse relationship between stress and immunity, so if you’re under too much stress, you may be getting sick more often.

• Sleep Problems: There are many ways that stress affects sleep. Too much stress can rob you of sleep and make the sleep you get less restorative.

• General Anxiety: Anxiety does serve an important function for survival, but if you’re feeling anxious much of the time, it could be because you have too many stressors in your life, or it may indicate a medical condition like generalized anxiety disorder. If you experience an increase in anxiety, you may want to talk to your doctor.

• ‘Fuzzy Thinking’: Your body’s stress response pumps your body with hormones that make it possible for you to fight or flee quickly. When triggered in excess, this stress response can actually cause you to think less quickly.

• Feelings of Frustration: If you’re faced with many demands at once, the natural result for many people is increased frustration and irritability. The trick is to find ways to prevent frustration and calm down quickly.