Laughter is Really the Best Medicine

Even When You Don’t Feel Like Laughing…

Some years ago, Norman Cousins, then editor of the notable magazine, The Saturday Review (no longer published,) was diagnosed with a painful, rheumatologic disease that included significant pain, and a not very rosy outcome.  Cousins took his treatment into his own hands, checked into a fancy hotel and spent his days watching funny, old movies like The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy and Abbot and Costello.  The story of his remarkable recovery using laughter therapy is the topic of a book (Anatomy of an Illness) he later wrote.

Now, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, using laughter-provoking movies to gauge the effect of emotions on heart health, have found that laughter is indeed linked to the healthy function of blood vessels.  It seems that laughter causes the tissue that forms the inner lining of blood vessels, the endothelium, to dilate or expand in order to increase blood flow.

When the same group of volunteers was shown a movie that produced mental stress, their blood vessel lining developed a potentially unhealthy response call vasoconstriction, reducing blood flow.  That finding adds evidence to earlier studies which suggested there was a connection between stress and the narrowing of blood vessels.

The recommendation is that we all try to laugh on a regular basis.  Laughter is almost as good as aerobic activity.  Thirty minutes of exercise three times a week and 15 minutes of laughter daily is probably very good for your heart.

Even though our work with clients at Seniors’ Choice at Home, can be heart-breaking at times, we in the office, and our care givers out with clients, find lots of opportunity to laugh and have fun.  One of the skills that persons with memory loss often retain, is the ability to make a joke and to have fun.  We like to think we make good use of our clients retained skills.

A Scientist Writes About Having a Stroke

Stroke is the number one disabler in our country and the number three killer.  According to the American Stroke Association, the ischemic stroke (ones where a blood clot blocks an artery and oxygen cannot get to cell) accounts for about 83%. 

I recently heard a discussion of a book, My Stroke of Insight (by Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD,) on public radio.  Dr. Taylor experienced an ischemic stroke and writes (from the viewpoint of a neuroanatomist) about the experience and her recovery.  You can find the book at www.amazon.com.

Dr. Taylor told the radio audience that a stroke is an acute medical event, and anyone experiencing any of the symptoms listed below, should get to a hospital emergency room as quickly as possible.  Ischemic strokes can be treated with blood clot dissolving medications that lessen the effects of the stroke if treatment is begun within 3 hours of the stroke.

Memorize these warning signs:

S–Speech, slurring, or problems with language

T–Tingling, or numbness in your body

R–Remembering, or problems with thinking

O–Off-balance, or problems with coordination

K–Killer headache

E–Eyes, or problems with vision

Stroke is a medical emergency.  Dial 911.

Seniors’ Choice at Home, a Twin Cities homemaker/companion program has provided help for persons recovering from a stoke in nursing homes, assisted livings, and, after rehab, at home.  Check out our website at www.seniorschoicemn.com, or call Marilyn at 763-546-1599 for more information.