Friday, April 30th, 2010

Laughter and Health

Photo by Flickr user Ivan Walsh.

Can a good laugh have some of the same physiological effects as exercise? Speaking this week at the Experimental Biology meeting in Anaheim, Lee Berk and colleagues reported that mirthful laughter "appears to modulate and may optimize the appetite hormones leptin and ghrelin" similar to physical exercise. The researchers studied the hormone levels in 14 healthy individuals who viewed either humorous or distressing video clips. We'll find out more.

Guests

Lee S. Berk
Preventive Care Specialist
Psychoneuroimmunology Researcher
Schools of Allied Health and Medicine
Loma Linda University
Loma Linda, California