Laughter may be the best medicine for heart disease, research has indicated after scientists in Brazil carried out the first clinical trial to examine whether “laughter therapy” cuts the risk of heart attack and stroke. Watching comedy and having a giggle were found to be good for the heart, reducing signs of inflammation and increasing its capacity to pump oxygen around the body.
Doctors at a conference in the Netherlands said all heart disease patients should be encouraged to “have a good laugh” at least twice a week, and the NHS could offer laughter therapy or comedy nights to some of the 7.6 million Britons with the disease.
The study involved 26 adults with an average age of 64 who had had a diagnosis of coronary artery disease, caused by fatty substances building up on the wall of the blood vessels that supply the heart. Half were asked to watch two hour long comedy programmes each week. The other half watched two serious documentaries every week.
Over the 12-week study the comedy group recorded a 10 per cent improvement in their VO2 max, a measurement of how much oxygen the heart can pump. A measure of how well arteries can expand also improved.
The group also took blood tests to measure biomarkers that indicate how clogged arteries are. The laughter group had significant reductions, reducing their risk of heart attack or stroke.
Professor Marco Saffi, of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre in Brazil, the report’s lead author, said: “Laughter therapy increased the functional capacity of the cardiovascular system. It reduces the thickening of the arteries.
