2 minute read
Will you Merry Me?
Dr Bill Nielsen has been practising in Duncan for thirty years
‘Tis the season to be jolly, to pour slow joy over a Sundae of mirth and glee. Nothing shines brighter in our dreary northern twilights than the laughter of a child, convulsing in unabashed merriment. It is that very primitive and contagious response to happiness our bodies crave. Laugh and the world laughs with you – cry and you cry alone: the familiar old saying is more than wise counsel. It is also sound medical advice.
The powerful physical and psychological benefits from laughter have been good tidings forever. Now the twenty-first century has opened a door to scientific research quantifying the biochemical and hormonal details of the physiology of laughing.
Of course emotion and the heart are intimately enmeshed. Negative sentiments and life’s stresses increase circulating cortisol and adrenaline. The inner lining of your blood vessels reacts, becoming inflamed. This leads to higher blood pressure, more heart attacks and susceptibility to infections and even cancer. But on the other hand, laughter makes hearts happier and healthier. Levels of the stress hormones plummet. Inflammation is reduced, the immune system returns to a healthy status. Laughter has been shown to increase nitric oxide so blood vessels widen, bringing more oxygen to heart muscle. Less inflammation means less clotting and fewer strokes.
The mirthful old Ho Ho Ho charges your brain’s happy centres through Mu 3 opiate receptors. Simply put, Jolly is literally a drug. Which explains the popularity of healthy hilarity - comedy clubs, girls’ weekends away or laughter therapy in cancer. Yep, it’s clinically proven in Norway: laughter makes people with cancer live longer and feel better.
In social situations, humour attracts us to others, strengthens relationships and promotes group bonding. Isn’t it nice we have an entire season every winter, dedicated to decking the halls with boughs of jolly holly. And that Fa la la la la is merely a long group laugh cleverly disguised as a chorus. Try singing it without at least smiling.
So, in this season of sugar plums, Wassail and glad merry glee, and especially given the health benefits of laughter, of course I will MERRY you.
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