SAN DIEGO, Apr 17, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Mirthful laughter was linked to
lower cholesterol and less risk of cardiovascular disease in a study of
high-risk diabetic patients, U.S. researchers said.
Lee Berk, a psychoneuroimmunologist, of Loma Linda University, and Dr. Stanley
Tan, an endocrinologist and diabetes specialist at Oak Crest Health Research
Institute in Loma Linda, examined the effects of mirthful laughter on 20
high-risk diabetic patients with hypertension and hyperlipidemia -- an elevation
of lipids in the bloodstream.
Both groups were started on standard medications for diabetes -- glipizide, TZD,
metformin, ACE inhibitors and statins. The researchers tracked both groups for
12 months, testing their blood for the stress hormones epinephrine and
norepinephrine; HDL cholesterol; inflammatory cytokines, which contribute to the
acceleration of atherosclerosis and C-reactive proteins, a marker of
inflammation and cardiovascular disease.
One group viewed self-selected humor for 30 minutes in addition to the standard
drug therapies.
At the end of one year, 26 percent of the laughter group had higher levels of
high-density lipoprotein, the "good" cholesterol, compared to 3 percent in the
control group. Harmful C-reactive proteins decreased 66 percent in the laughter
group vs. 26 percent for the control group.
The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Physiological
Society, part of the Experimental Biology 2009 gathering in New Orleans
Convention.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International