Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class James Botkin, Behavioral Health, Naval Hospital Yokosuka

YOKOSUKA, Japan (NNS) -- Laughter research (yes, there is someone out there researching this) has shown that humor and especially laughter can help keep our bodies strong and disease resistant.

Humor is equally helpful to our mental health and the way we deal with stress and worry. A good laugh exercises many muscles of the body and causes the brain to release endorphins.

These “feel good” brain chemicals raise both our mood and our coping abilities. Sometimes things don’t seem as bad when looked through the eyes of humor.

When thinking about alternative medicine, most people picture plants, crystals, needles, maybe some bugs and leeches, but few realize that jokes, humor and comedy are truly medicines, in their own right. It has long been established that optimists live longer than pessimists, but now there is some hard evidence that people with a better sense of humor also have longer and healthier lives. Your "stay healthy" plan should include a joke and a 30-minute comedy show, to go with the broccoli and carrots.

Definitions of laughter on the Web:

• Laughter is the biological reaction of humans to moments or occasions of humor: an outward expression of amusement. Laughter is subcategorised into various groupings depending upon the extent and pitch of the laughter: giggles, clicks (which can be almost silent), chortles, chuckles, hoots, cackles, sniggers and guffaws are all types of laughter. Smiling is a mild silent form of laughing. ...
  
• a virtue, is a soul-expanding delight that shortens time. Every laugh you manage cuts short the miles and hours and days of drudgery. You can ascend the physical body on laughter. Let a sense of humor give you balance, perspective, poise and patience. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Learn to laugh at yourself and go upward.

Make laughing a daily exercise... You’ll be glad you did!