Finding the funny side of things might be more important to your health than you think. Researchers at the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center have shown that a lack of humor contributes to heart disease.

Dillard refers to several studies in his latest article, and introduces readers to the field of psychoneuroimmunology — the study of how mental states affects our immune system.

He also provides some good tips on how to take advantage of humor’s benefits.

•?Make a list of your favorite comedians, and get their CDs.

•?Rent fun movies, record TV comedy shows, and order the funniest Netflix. Listen to silly shows in the car, like NPR’s “Car Talk.” Find a way to have a good laugh every day.

Checkout the original article to learn more.

At one point, those in attendance cheered and clapped to the song “Mamma Mia” from the Swedish pop group ABBA. Later, Bae Ki-hyo, a professor at Daegu Health College, sauntered up to the podium to give a speech while wearing goofy glasses.

It turns out medical professional in Korea are gathering to learn more about how to implement this foreign, yet familiar, form of therapy.

This obviously isn’t your typical everyday medical group.The organization, called the Korea Laughter Clinic Academy, was founded to prove and promote the efficacy of so-called “laughter therapy,” which centers on using humor as a healing method.

Read more about it at the JoongAng Daily News.

“Humor results in a general decrease in stress hormones. Vigorous laughter temporarily increases the heart rate, benefits the immune system, increases alertness, and exercises skeletal muscles. Levels of epinephrine and dopamine decrease as a response to humor and laughing,” he says.

The physical effects actually resemble those of a good workout, McGrath adds. “There is an increase of endorphin levels, the body’s natural painkiller.”

Laughter is often used to help survive difficult situations, McGrath says, and it has many positive but indirect long-term benefits, including increasing the sense of well-being, making pleasant connections with others, managing stress, and increasing creativity.

The benefits of laughter extend after the chortling, chuckling and guffawing ceases, he adds. “Following extended laughter, there is a brief period during which blood pressure lowers and heart rate decreases.”

Laughter, indeed, is the best medicine. “And if you are not ready to start your day with a full dose of this great medicine, just smile,” he adds. To stay healthy and happy, McGrath prescribes 30 minutes of exercise, 15 minutes of humor, and 15 minutes of smiling meditation.

Original Article found on University of Wisconsin-Madison News

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Written By Sharma Howard
Originally found in the Norwich Bulletin

In the news: Eileen Kaplan, 65, of Bozrah, has written a book about surviving breast cancer titled “Laughter is the Breast Medicine.”

Family: Kaplan and her husband, Arnold, have two daughters, Marcy and Dana, and a grandson.

Background: Kaplan first worked as an X-ray technologist. She owned a stationery business, Paper Unlimited, in the 1970s and then became a real estate agent. Later, she worked for the state Department of Labor until 1994, then worked for the Department of Children and Families from 1994 to 2005.

Diagnosis and treatment: Kaplan was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. She underwent a lumpectomy and then discovered a tumor on her left breast, and underwent a bi-lateral mastectomy. She has also undergone chemotherapy and radiation.

Her inspiration: Her doctors suggested she write a book, because they told her that throughout her treatment, her sense of humor kept them “laughing and blushing.” “I joked and fooled around with the medical team. They deal with cancer on a daily basis and that’s how I deal with things — with humor.”

About the book: Kaplan has marketed it herself through EyeKap Press. The 80-page book covers many issues and is broken down into short chapters. It is available at The William W. Backus Hospital, The Lawrence & Memorial Hospital Gift Shop, Borders in Waterford, and Bank Square Books in Mystic, and through her Web site, www.laughteristhebreastmedicine.com.

Quotable: “Just because you’re diagnosed with breast cancer doesn’t mean you’re going to die, because treatments are getting better and better, and a great part of being well again is awareness and taking good care of yourself physically.”

—

By ELLYN COUVILLION
Originally found on 2theadvocate.com

Kent Rader likes to make people laugh.

A standup comedian and professional speaker, Rader found his career only after first working in public accounting and as a hospital chief executive officer.

“If you find accounting exciting … you’re doing it wrong,” Rader said as he spoke to cancer patients, caregivers and health professionals at Woman’s Hospital’s 12th annual “Women Living with Cancer” program.

“Every year, we bring in an outside speaker. We focus on inspirational speakers” who can help patients “stay motivated and stay strong” as they go through cancer treatment, Jodi Conachen, public relations manager for Woman’s Hospital, said.

Rader’s Sept. 22 presentation, “Let It Go, Just Let It Go,” was based on his book by the same name, which he wrote in 2002 as a guide to reducing stress — with humor being one of the tools that helps.

The winner of the 2007 Branson Comedy Festival, Rader, a native of Oklahoma, performs “clean standup comedy” in clubs across the country.

For two hours one evening, he seemed to transform a conference room at Woman’s Hospital into a comedy club.

Cell phone technology, telemarketers, airport screeners, school parent meetings and home repair were all fodder for his presentation on how to use humor to deal with life’s stresses.

Stress, he said, has physiological effects on the body, as the body prepares for “fight or flight” in stressful situations.

“Seventy-five to 90 percent of all physicians’ calls are related to stress,” Rader said.

“Before we have feelings or emotions, we have thoughts that preceded those feelings or emotions,” he said.

Those thoughts are a person’s “attempt to interpret that situation,” he said.

People, he said, can learn to change the way they’re thinking about a situation.
“Your stress comes from your thoughts. They’re simply thoughts. It doesn’t mean your thoughts are based in reality. They’re simply thoughts,” Rader said.

“Begin to recognize that you are the architect of your stress.”

Humor is one way to “rebuild” one’s reaction to a stressful situation.

“When we experience laughter … it changes our thoughts, changes our feelings,” he said.

He recommended that people bring more humor to their lives, especially their work, and “hang out with those people that make you laugh, they’re going to make your life a joy.”

And, he added, “Develop your own sense of humor … It’s one of the most important tools you have.”

Humor can be so powerful, that Rader added two caveats:

“Be careful who you share your humor with. Not everyone finds the same things funny as you do.”

And, “The same humor we use to heal can also hurt. So remember not to hurt people with your humor.”

Diane Davis, a registered nurse with Woman’s Hospital’s Breast Center and an audience member, said she was there both for herself as a breast cancer survivor and her patients.

David said she was hoping to learn more about how humor can defuse stress.

“Humor’s a good way to handle life,” she said.

—-

By Kathy Uek
Originaly found at MetroWestDailyNews.com

A guy walks into a bar…

Just those few words can make you laugh.

It’s no joke that laughter helps reduce blood pressure and lower the heart rate, which proves, says Memie Watson, that laughter is the best medicine.

“Because you are laughing so hard, it also removes toxins from the body,” said Watson, a stress management consultant who teaches people how to chill out.

Watson knows all about stress. She is a full-time paramedic with a Danvers ambulance service.

“Humor is important for reducing stress,” she said. “There’s nothing like a good laugh.”

Local residents talked about how humor helps them de-stress and get through life lightly.

Ed Sanderson said he lives by the motto: “life should be fun.”

He practices that philosophy at Natick’s Joan & Ed’s Deli, which he and his wife Joan own, by putting jokes and funny stories all over the deli walls.

An example: “By the time your children are fit to live with you, they are living with someone else.”

“Humor is a central part of life,” said 66-year-old Sanderson. “Fun is important when working. If it’s not fun, it not worth doing.”

Sanderson passed the humor gene on to his daughter, Mindy, who said, “Laughter is just a way of life.”

John Vernon, a chair aerobics instructor at Natick Senior Center, uses humor to get class members to forget about pain.

“Even though it’s a chair exercise, you have to put effort into it and when you are 80 or 90, it’s not easy,” said Vernon of Holliston. “Sometimes humor can act as anesthetic to take your mind off the pain.”

To help his students lose that sense of pain, Vernon pokes fun at the Red Sox, Tom Brady, and the aging process itself.

There’s no pain in the day for the owners of an 8-year-old beagle named Eugene.

The pooch makes Eddie Denty, 8, of Natick laugh when he looks at him with his sad eyes while pushing on his crate.

“He’s just so cute,” he said.

“And when he runs, he gallops,” added 7-year-old brother, Phillip.

Fourteen-month-old Charlie Lansdale of Natick is just learning to run, but at a recent family wedding he brought chuckles to his parents, guests and hopefully to the bride and groom when he said at a rather quiet moment, “Uh oh.”

Local residents find laughs everywhere - even in the pool. During a water aerobics class at Focus on Fitness in Framingham, instructor Alison Olson tells a joke or two on the last Friday of each month on “Joke Day.” Sometimes when reading moments of mirth, submitted by class members, the pages get soggy, but everyone laughs on.

“We put it into the class because we take life pretty seriously and we need to have opportunities where people have fun and laugh a bit,” said Olson. “That class lends itself well to telling jokes.”

Certified laughter yoga instructor, Laura Malloy, makes people giggle and roar in the classes she teaches throughout the community as part of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The gist, or jest, of the concept, created by Dr. Madan Kataria in India in 1995, is based on the research that the body can’t tell the difference between genuine laughter and laughter exercises, said Malloy.

So when she starts one of her exercises imitating a mad scientist, with an evil laugh, rubbing his hands together, at first the giggles may be contrived, but soon the laughter becomes genuine and contagious.

“It’s so much fun,” said Malloy. “My mood is always higher after a laughter yoga session.”

Laughter, she said, decreases stress hormones, boosts endorphins and provides a good cardiovascular workout.

At her sessions, the exercises are paired with breathing techniques, so they increase oxygen to the body and the brain and also boost the immune system, she said.

Laughter breeds success. Thirteen years after the first class began in India, 6,000 Laughter Clubs smile in 60 different countries.

At Dean College in Franklin, faculty member Jim Beauregard teaches “Commedia del Arte” in which his students learn gestures and motions necessary to portray comedy.

That, said college spokeswoman Pat Samson, is so “their comedic acting brings laughter to others.”

Samson tries to see the funny side of life.

“If you can’t laugh at something during the day, your life is way too serious and life is too short for that,” she said

—

By Kelly Wilson
Originally Found on Whig.com

Did you laugh today?

If you didn’t, go rent “Caddyshack” or “Duck Soup” and get your daily dose of giggles, because experts say laughter can boost your mental and physical health.

“Research studies show some evidence that humor can help physical well-being,” said Amy Griswold, a family life educator with the University of Illinois Extension based in Macomb.

Griswold presented a “Looking for the Funny Side” workshop Tuesday for local retirees.

“The main research shows that humor and laughter can help with psychological well-being,” she said. “It really does help to relieve stress and cope with difficult situations.”

Griswold said people who find humor in daily life are less susceptible to depression.

The humor workshop was the first of 10 that Extension is holding statewide in partnership with the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. While the information presented can benefit people in any age group, it was particularly geared toward seniors.

“We think it’s really important to support our retirees and help them have a more healthful retirement,” said Linda Horrell, communications manager for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, the second-largest public pension in the state. The IMRF pays benefits to 89,000 retirees.

Nearly 700 IMRF retirees live in Adams County, and more than 50 attended Tuesday’s workshop.

“As people retire and they have a different life, it’s not uncommon for seniors to have more health issues than a younger person would and they may not have the social interaction that working individuals have,” Horrell said.

“It’s important that we strive to help our retirees with a good quality of life in retirement. Research has shown that having a sense of humor is a characteristic of resilient individuals and families.”

Griswold said people need to first think about their own sense of humor and what makes them laugh, and then to look for ways to incorporate humor into their everyday lives.

“You can watch funny shows or read jokes that come through (e-mail). If you find something that makes you laugh, print it off and put it on your fridge,” she said.

Griswold also encourages seniors to keep a humor journal.

“When you’re feeling down in the dumps, you can go back and read about the enjoyable moments,” she said.

—

Link to Original Article

A good laugh is considered to be the best medicine, but a new research suggests that it may trigger serious asthma attacks.

This makes laughter a serious matter for 40 percent per cent of Australia’s 2 million asthma sufferers, according to a new study.

The online poll of 200 sufferers, conducted by drug company AstraZeneca’s, has backed university research that revealed laughter can spark the chronic respiratory illness in up to half of asthmatics.

A more serious concern from this research is that three quarters of asthmatics believe their asthma is well managed but the majority put up with lifestyle restrictions because of their illness.

The survey reflected both a University of NSW 2004 study published in the Journal Of Asthma and a New York University 2005 study Laughter May Trigger Asthma Attacks.

Almost two thirds found themselves breathless when doing housework or shopping, while half struggled to do their favourite activities.

More than one third felt tired because of disturbed sleep.

A further one in five cancelled social engagements because of their asthma.

Concord Hospital thoracic physician Professor Christine Jenkins said well-managed asthma should not hamper the enjoyment of any of life’s pleasures.

“Worryingly, these findings show that while many believe they have their asthma under control, the asthma is actually controlling them and their lifestyles,” the Daily Telegraph quoted her as saying.

—

By Christian Davenport
Link to Original Article

He knows they’re going to stare. They always stare.

As soon as Pat Murray steps in the elevator, they’ll notice his prosthetic leg and maybe accurately surmise that, yes, he is an Iraq war veteran, and, yes, he got blown up. Then the sadness will sink in, the pity, and they’ll give him that look, which he can sense even if he doesn’t see, and it will be an uncomfortable few floors up.

So as Murray approaches the elevator and the woman thrusts her hand between the closing doors for him, he says, “Careful, you can lose a limb that way.”

“Oooh,” the woman says, noticing Murray’s metal leg. She’s obviously shocked, unsure of what to say or how to act. Murray flashes a smile, lets loose an “it’s okay” chuckle, and suddenly the ride up isn’t nearly so awkward after all.

It’s that type of humor — spontaneous (he once asked his doctor when his leg would grow back), cunning (he tells children who ask about his “robot” leg that he didn’t eat his vegetables) and, at times, gruesome (there are stump jokes that can’t be printed here) — that helped him come to terms with the fact that his right leg is no more.

It was at Walter Reed Army Medical Center that Murray, who was a corporal in the Marine Corps, not only learned to walk again, but to laugh. Although doctors and therapists can patch up the physical wounds of war, it is often the humor — soldier to soldier, Marine to Marine, patient to patient — that in the space of a punch line can heal as well as the best medicine.

“What’s an amputee’s favorite restaurant?” asked Staff Sgt. Brian Schar, who lost both legs in Iraq. “IHOP.”

Offensive, galling and ‘fun’
Yes, the humor can be offensive and galling — burn victims sometimes call each other “crispy,” for example. The sphere of people who can get away with telling amputee jokes is tightly defined, and not every wounded warrior is able to crack jokes about the fact that he has a hard time going up stairs or holding a coffee cup. But for others, it’s the ultimate palliative as they move from denial to anger to acceptance.

“You have to have fun with it,” said Kevin Blanchard, who lost his left leg while on patrol in Iraq in 2005. “And you can get away with murder, because who’s going to yell at an amputee?”

Wounds heal faster when they become not a wound but a practical joke, a gag. At a restaurant with a friend, Blanchard, now a student at George Washington University, stabbed his prosthetic foot with a steak knife and pretended to howl in pain. At Kings Dominion amusement park, he removed his leg before getting on a suspended roller coaster where riders’ feet dangle freely. As the ride coasted to a stop, he started screaming loud enough for those in line to hear: “Do not get on that ride! It’ll rip your legs off!”

Murray says laughter helped him keep his “mind off the fact of what an absolutely horrible situation you are in — how you went from being a big, bad-ass terrorist fighter to having your mother pushing you around in a wheelchair.”

Fellow Marines dish it out
It helped that his fellow Marines dished it out in the physical therapy room as if they had never left the front lines. He loved how the sad, tragic place could give way so easily to hilarity. How service members called each other “Gimpy” and “Peg-leg” and “one-legged bastard.” Those with one arm were known as “Five” for the number of fingers they had left.

On a whim, Murray and a fellow patient, a double amputee, made business cards to pass out to women in bars that read: “2 1 3 Inc./2 Chumps 1 Leg 3 Stumps/Part Time Human Bomb Detectors/Full Time Lady Killers/Professional Cigarette Smokers.”

Patients at Walter Reed competed to print up T-shirts that capture the tone of much of the hospital hallway banter: “Buy a Marine. 25-50 percent off. Some assembly required.”

And: “Dude, where’s my leg?”

And: “I went to Iraq, lost my leg and all I got was this T-shirt.”

One of his best friends had professionally printed on his prosthetic: “I did it for the parking.”

Schar, who lost both his legs in 2007, and some friends created a top 10 list of positive things about being a double amputee. Among them: “Your feet don’t smell,” “you can wear the same socks for weeks” and “you can always wear shorts.”

Once, while Schar was pushing himself up a steep hill in his wheelchair, someone asked whether he needed a hand.

“No, man, my hands are good,” Schar responded. “Can you give me a couple of feet?”

Painful transitions, rules of joking
When Ryan Kules first got to Walter Reed in late 2005, he didn’t see anything funny about the fact that he had lost his right arm and left leg. He was still in agonizing pain — and denial — and hurting over the loss of two buddies who were killed by a roadside bomb that exploded directly under their Humvee.

It took nine months before reality sank in and the former Army captain was finally able to join the joking that was so prevalent at the hospital. Kules’s wife eventually commented on the fact that, minus his right arm and left leg, his body now formed an odd angle.

“You’re like a backslash,” she said.

Months before, he might have found the remark distasteful or insulting. But now he embraces the new nickname.

“Unfortunately, there are people who never get to that point,” said the Bowie resident, who works with the Wounded Warrior Project helping veterans get jobs. “You can make fun of yourself, or not — but that can suddenly lead down a very dark road.” Humor “is coming to terms with the way your body is now, and part of that process is being able to laugh about it and being able to joke around with people who are in similar situations as you.”

Which is key. The right to joke about lost limbs is usually reserved for close friends and fellow amputees. If a stranger called Murray gimpy or peg-leg out of the blue, “I’m going to hit him in the head with my prosthetic.”

‘How I make it through the day’
Last fall, Ross Colquhoun, called the “able-bodied freak” by the Walter Reed patients he takes on outdoor expeditions, was with a group of amputees at a store, shopping for supplies for a hunting trip. The patients were, as usual, going at it. At one point, the Walter Reed staffer called one soldier “gimpy” and threatened to tie another’s wheelchair to the van’s bumper and drive him home like that.

“Did you hear what that guy just said?” a nearby shopper told his friend. “I can’t believe he’s talking to them like that. I’m going to kick his butt if he keeps it up.”

The strangers confronted Colquhoun, who explained that they were all from Walter Reed and that, yes, the joking was raw, but that’s how they communicate. “They were dumbfounded,” he said.

Army Staff Sgt. Kurtis Dellicker has catalogued his wounds so many times, he has his shtick down pat.

The left side of his face is paralyzed, “so I won’t ever need Botox.” And numb: “So I can really take a punch in bar fights.” And he’s deaf in his left ear, so “I get half off on headphones.”

The jokes, delivered deadpan, are his way of saying he has accepted the way he is, has moved on and wishes others would, too.

“That’s how I make it through the day, especially here at Walter Reed,” he said. “To be in this place, you have to have a sense of humor or you’ll lose your mind.”

—

By Kim Wier
via DailySentinel.com

I think I know why my family rarely gets sick — we laugh, a lot! We did not strategically plan laughter as a healthy lifestyle choice. We just think most things have a funny side. While this might be off putting to those who take things seriously, we get the last laugh; it turns out there are some real health benefits water gun fights in the living room, dressing up to watch The Wizard of Oz and Hoola-hoop competitions. We’re not proud of it, but we also get cheap thrills laughing at others, like the man with plumber’s pants in front of us in the grocery store line. Thanks to his lack of modesty we may actually live longer.

Laughter is actually the birthright of every single person; it isn’t something we have to learn. Infants begin smiling in the first weeks of life and laugh out loud within months. I’ll never forget the day our first born became hysterical for the first time at the sound of ripping paper. He was only 6 month old. We didn’t teach that — God imbedded it. Now researchers are explaining why. From studying laughter’s effects on the body we are beginning to understand how vital it is our overall well being.

WebMD documents that “Researchers at the University of Maryland studied the effects on blood vessels when people were shown either comedies or dramas. After the screening, the blood vessels of the group who watched the comedy behaved normally — expanding and contracting easily. But the blood vessels in people who watched the drama tended to tense up, restricting blood flow.

Research also shows immunity benefits. “Increased stress is associated with decreased immune system response. Some studies have shown that the ability to use humor may raise the level of infection-fighting antibodies in the body and boost the levels of immune cells, as well.

“One study of 19 people with diabetes looked at the effects of laughter on blood sugar levels. After eating, the group attended a tedious lecture. On the next day, the group ate the same meal and then watched a comedy. After the comedy, the group had lower blood sugar levels than they did after the lecture.

“The focus on the benefits of laughter really began with Norman Cousin’s memoir, Anatomy of an Illness. Cousins, who was diagnosed with a painful spine condition, found that a diet of comedies, like Marx Brothers films and episodes of Candid Camera, helped him feel better. He said that ten minutes of laughter allowed him two hours of pain-free sleep.”

Other benefits that have been documented include: relaxing muscles, preventing heart disease, lowering stress hormones, easing anxiety and fear, relieves stress, improves mood, and enhances resilience.

But it is not just our health that’s affected. There are also social benefits to frequent laughter. Sharing humor with others strengthens relationships, attracts others to us, enhances teamwork, helps defuse conflict, and promotes group bonding. As proof, consider the Brady Bunch –or think of your own relationships. Those you never laugh with are probably on the stressful side. Those you consider enjoyable are most likely people you regularly have fun with.

So, if you want to improve your health, improve your relationships and improve your overall outlook on life, humor is the best medicine. If you are a humor novice, (and you probably are if people are always telling you to ‘lighten up) there here are a few suggestions for creating opportunities to laugh: spend time playing with children, read a joke book and tell the worst ones to a friend, read the funny pages, hang out with a funny person, invite the happiest couple you know to dinner, go to a comedy club or a karaoke night, host a game night, share your most embarrassing moments out loud, find time for purely fun activities like bowling or mini-golf, put a toy on your desk, find something ridiculous in trying situations and laugh at them, load a funny screen saver, or frame pictures of you having fun with family or friends.

Finally, pay attention to kids and do what they do. Masters of play and laughter, they still exercise the funny bone God implanted in each of His children.

Research proves it, but God ordained it: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22

If you’re feeling dry, it’s time for a good dose of laughter!

Sound a bit ridiculous? You’re probably right. But don’t let a little silliness confuse you. A sense of humor may just be the only sure fire way to ease the pain of the loss of a loved one.

Let’s start off by saying a few caveats:

- No, we do not mean that Michael Jackson’s body will start doing he moon walk if enough of us laugh at him.

- And two, there are many times when laughter is the absolute worse thing you can do at a funeral, when you’re dealing with a loss, or when consoling a friend over their own. People need time to grieve and feel the spectrum of human emotions that arise during these tragic events.

However there are times when laughter can help us heal the wounds left by the death of a loved one.

1. After a loved one’s passing, we can have a tendency (especially us males), to try to surpress our emotions or to attempt to maintain the status quo for the sake of putting up a good front. In essence, we can often deny the loss for various reasons, including the fear of having to face it. Having a sense of humor about ourselves can be enable us to break down the walls we erect, allowing us to see that it is okay to feel emotions and grieve. So while we sometimes use humor to neglect feeling pain, having a sense of humor about our persona may help us come to better relationship with our emotions–not having to be so serious about putting up a good front.

2. Also, one of the greatest gifts we can give to those that pass is the gift of rememberence. Many of us want our lives to mean something to the world. The best way I know how to do that is remembering the humorous stories and silly manerisms of our deceased. This way, we allow them to fill our lives with joy from the beyond.

Download or Play Below:

Download or Play Below:

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Written by Jamie Lampros
Link to Original Article

WASHINGTON TERRACE — Ogden Regional Medical Center has a new weapon in the war against disease and pain.

Comedy.

Blake Nelson, an emergency room nurse from Morgan, has found that joking around helps ease the tension for patients during the stress and fear of an ER visit.

Using his sense of humor, Nelson quickly put at ease a 16 year-old patient complaining of stomach pain.

He joked about the intravenous line he had to put into her arm and how some of the side effects of her medication might make her feel.

“They told me to give you some Nexium. You know, it’s the purple pill. I found it in the candy bowl out there,” he told the teenager.

After wheeling her down to have an ultrasound, he said to the technician, “I’m going to put $10 on the gallbladder. Let me know if I win.”

Before long, the worried look on the teenager’s face disappeared and she started to relax and even crack a few jokes back at Nelson.

“Many of the patients we treat are very ill. Imagine yourself in the ER, sick, and your nurse or doctor acts as if it is putting them out to take care of you,” Nelson said.

“The patient needs to know you are on their side. If I can get them to laugh or even crack a smile, then I have done something therapeutic.”

Emergency room charge nurse Bridgette Hooton said Nelson is a natural-born comedian.

“It’s fun to have the little wisecracks,” she said. “It puts patients and their families at ease. He’s got a really dry sense of humor and always makes us laugh. He puts people at ease and breaks the tension.”

Nelson is modest about his sense of humor, but said if he has one, it comes from his mother’s side of the family.

“They are a riot.”

After serving a mission to Argentina for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Nelson began his medical career in the admitting department at the hospital. From there, he became a ward clerk in the ER and went to school, becoming an emergency medical technician and certified nursing assistant.

He enjoyed his work in the ER so much, he continued with his schooling and earned his nursing degree.

“I had a patient the other day who was a nurse in World War II. She was 99 years old and still spoke fondly of her days working in this field,” Nelson said.

“I know that, one day, I’ll be able to look back on my life and know I did something to help people in need.”

Born and raised in Morgan, Nelson, 34, still lives in his hometown. He met his wife, Crystal, at Weber State University and proposed to her by renting a limousine and taking her to dinner at Temple Square.

The two are the parents of three daughters and a beta fish named Buttercup.

Working in the emergency room has also made him a protective father.

“Let’s just say that few ER employees own a trampoline,” he said.

“I strive to be a father that is there for his family. I know that what kind of dad I am will influence the kind of husbands my daughters will marry. No pressure there.”

When he isn’t working, Nelson likes to spend time with his family, play the violin, fly fish and go camping.

His favorite TV shows include “Survivor Man,” “The Office,” “Scrubs” and “Man vs. Wild” … “until I saw Bear Grylls eat bear poop,” Nelson said.

All kidding aside, Nelson said when people come to the emergency room, they want straight talk.

“They want to be informed of what’s happening to them or a loved one,” he said. “Sometimes people’s fears are unjustified, so if you inform them, they are better able to deal with the stress of the moment.”

Nelson said his job has taught him just how precious life is.

“Things can change in an instant. I remember doing CPR on a patient in his early 40s with his wife and young children standing outside waiting,” he said. “We were unable to save the patient. Every day is a gift.”

As for giving advice, Nelson said with summer coming up, there are plenty of things you can do to avoid landing in the emergency room:

“Let’s start off by saying that alcohol and most outdoor activities don’t mix.

“Helmets won’t keep you out of the ER, but at least you will go home eventually.

“Do not think you can climb on top of a 2,000-pound angry animal with horns and think you’ve somehow avoided danger.

“Cliffs are for looking at, not jumping off of no matter how deep you think the water is.”

—-

By Dave Baity
Originally found at TheSunNews.com

Laughter, according to an old cliche - and Reader’s Digest - is the best medicine for what ails you.

And despite all the economic gloom of late, the tickle boxes of many a Grand Strander are alive and healthy if a random, though unscientific, survey of area folks taken recently is an indicator.

Sure, they’re concerned about job losses and a rising unemployment rate in Horry, Georgetown and other counties across the state and nation. Most certainly, they are tense about the stock market that climbs a hundred or so points one day only to tank the next. And don’t even mention gas and grocery prices, mounting medical costs and all the other trauma .

Of 10 people chosen at random, all quickly broke into smiles when asked what makes them laugh and why. And all found comfort in the joy they find in their homes, jobs and daily life, indicating that mundane things can make you chuckle and feel good about yourself and others if you make the effort to looking for something to lift your spirits.

Steve Spradling

Surfside Beach’s Steve Spradling, 60, is broker-in- charge of Coldwell Banker Chicora Real Estate’s Surfside office. Mounting mortgage woes and a depressed real estate market certainly have set many in the industry atremble. But Spradling finds solace in his three grandchildren.

“My grandchildren make me laugh,” he said. “I guess it’s because you love them so much. They’re so high energy and a joy to be around.”

Tommy Benton

Operating an independent hardware firm in a market fraught with competition from national chain stores can be a daunting undertaking. But Tommy Benton, 39, of Socastee, has something to offer that mega stores don’t; something that makes him and his customers chuckle.

It’s Drake, his German wire-haired pointer and chocolate Lab mix that accompanies Benton to his Surfside Hardware store every work day.

“Hey, I laugh at just about everything, but especially when Drake chases the light from a laser pointer all around the store. He just loves it and it makes me, and everybody else, laugh by how hard he tries to catch that little red dot. The first thing one customer who comes in about every day asks is, ‘Where’s the light?’”

Cristi Seay

Cristi Seay, 49, of Myrtle Beach, helps her husband Mike in the family business of building spec and custom homes and home additions and doing home remodeling and repairs. But she finds a lot of joy and satisfaction from volunteering as a teacher’s helper at Lakewood Elementary School.

“The best thing that makes me laugh that I can think of is the response kids sometimes have to questions. The teacher, for instance, will ask how long something is, meaning in inches or feet, and they say two or three hours,” she said. “It just blows my mind how some of the children’s minds work. You have to be specific with them. If not, you can hardly keep from bursting out laughing at some of their replies.”

Tiffany Moore

Tiffany Moore, 36, of Murrells Inlet, works as a clerk in a hardware store. She takes delight in the company’s customers.

“My regular customers make me laugh. The regulars make my day every day. They tell me jokes and all kinds of things. I have to laugh at one who drops by every day and refuses to park the correct way in a parking space. He always pulls in sideways,” she said.

And she even finds unnecessary questions amusing, like the woman who came in to have a key made and asked at least 20 times if it was going to work, all the while looking over Moore’s should while she was busy operating the key-making machine.

“You just take things like that in stride and smile,” she said.

Todd Johnson

Todd Johnson, 42, of Murrells Inlet, owns the Econo Lube N’ Tune on Dick Pond Road near Surfside Beach. He finds delight in his 2-year-old twins, Noah and Sarah, and 9-year-old son Scott.

“My kids make me laugh,” he said. “Everything is so simple to them. They don’t worry about the economy. They don’t worry about anything. They don’t know what a bad day is,” he said. “There’s nothing more amazing that to be riding down the road with them in the car and hearing them burst out laughing just because one happened to touch the other. Their laughter is contagious.”

Thelma Clark

Thelma Clark, 66, lives in the Crystal Lake Mobile Home just outside Myrtle Beach and works as a cashier at a service station on Dick Pond Road.

What makes her laugh?

“Her,” she said, pointing to co-worker Elsa Holland. “I find my co-workers amusing, just the crazy things they say and do. There’s always something going on here. It’s nice to work in such an atmosphere.”

Maurice

Littlejohn

Maurice Littlejohn, a 64-year-old retired accountant from Myrtle Beach was buying a lottery ticket when he stopped to ponder what makes him happy, rather than what simply makes him laugh.

“Actually, bringing joy to other people’s lives is what I enjoy the most,” he said. “I love interacting with other people and Myrtle Beach is the perfect place for that. What makes other people happy is what makes me happy and I try my best to spread a little cheer. Seeing people with a smile on their face puts one on mine.”

Harley Allen

Harley Allen, 27, recently moved with her family from New York city to Murrells Inlet. She’s a receptionist at Great Clips. Her son makes her happy, she said, especially when he comes home from school and there’s no note from his teacher in his folder.

“He’s a good kid, but he was having some transition issues because of moving from New York to here. He’s like his mother; he likes to talk,” she said. “But for two weeks now, there have been no notes from his teacher. He jumps up and down and gives me hugs and says, ‘Mommy, I’ve been a good boy.’ How I love those hugs.”

Tamara Hardy

Tamara Hardy, 22, of Conway also is a Great Clips hairdresser. She finds a lot of joy in serving her customers, she said.

“I love waking up every day and knowing that I’m going to make a little bit of difference in someone’s life or just make their day a little better,” she said. “Making people happy makes me smile and feel good about myself.”

Elaine Bovee

Elaine Bovee, 58, of Myrtle Beach, works in a Myrtle Beach restaurant and has little trouble finding something to laugh about.

“Most everything makes me laugh. People do and say the darndest things. For instance, a customer will open the door to the restaurant and ask, ‘Are you open?’ You might be thinking, ‘No, we just thought we’d let you in for a chat,’ but you simply smile and enjoy it,” she said.

But the person that brings her the most joy, she said, is her husband Tom.

“He’s always saying and doing silly things to make me laugh,” she said. “I guess I’m just a happy kind of person. That’s much better than being gloomy all the time.”

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By Sam McManis
Original Article Found at The Honolulu Advertiser

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Talk turned serious — painfully so, at times — during the two hours of group discussion.

Dr. Topher Stephenson, sitting ramrod-straight in the physician’s archetypal white coat, knitted his brows and focused his empathetic brown eyes on three patients, one using a cane and another wearing a back brace. Chronic pain not only can affect the physical, the patients explained, it can decimate quality of life.

At one point, patient Eric Haynes couldn’t help but cry.

“I’m just trying to deal with the pain and keep going,” he told the group, a Proactive Pain Solutions class at Sacramento, Calif.’s Mercy Midtown Medical Building. “I don’t want to do anything. … But I don’t want to give up on life, either.”

On it went, sad stories of lives turned upside down, while Stephenson and Mercy behavioral health coordinator Pat Hanson offered soothing words and concrete coping skills. But near the end of the session, Stephenson looked at his watch and decided what everybody needed was a good laugh.

Seriously.

Stephenson, who specializes in physical medicine and runs the spine program at Mercy in Sacramento, also has become something of an adherent to a trend in integrative medicine known as laughter yoga, which promises to do for the psyche what bikram yoga does for muscles.

So he tells the group members to gird for a brief but restorative session of mirth. He has them extend an imaginary string with both hands across their mouths and says to raise it a bit and laugh.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha …”

“OK, that was a nice and easy warm-up,” Stephenson said. “I don’t want to hear belly laughs yet. Just keep your teeth closed and do two more.”

“Ha-ha-ha …”

“Now, I want you to really let it rip, OK?”

“HA-HA-HA-HA-WHOA-HA-HA-HA …”

Laughter reigned. The whole vibe of the room changed from sorrow to joy, at least for a minute. Everyone was smiling and chuckling after Stephenson finished and dismissed the group.

“This has really helped me,” said Haynes, who is unable to work because of a chronic back condition. “And it’s fun to do.”

BODY OF RESEARCH GROWING

Sure, a good belly laugh or two might temporarily distract chronic pain patients. But, skeptics might ask, what good could it really do?

Research looking at the connection between mind and body suggests that repeated doses of laughter can indeed lead to positive physical changes. Building on the lay research by 1970s best-selling author Norman Cousins, who eased his autoimmune disease by watching “Candid Camera” episodes, doctors at Loma Linda University in Southern California have documented the effects of laughter in double-blind studies.

In a paper presented at last month’s meeting of the American Physiological Society, they found that the hormones beta-endorphins (which elevate mood) and human growth hormone (which builds immunity) increased significantly in patients exposed to “mirthful laughter.”

Another study by the same doctors found that laughter reduced three key stress hormones — cortisol, epinephrine and dopac — by 38 percent to 70 percent. Significantly high levels of those three hormones have long been linked to compromised immune systems.

Stephenson was won over even before he became familiar with the scientific literature. In a break before starting medical school in the late 1990s, he attended clown college (Mooseburger University in Oklahoma) and graduated with honors. Using his alter ego, Bobo Doodlemeyer, Stephenson started a clown-care unit at the University of New Mexico Children’s Hospital.

Bobo usually stays incognito as Stephenson goes about his day-to-day practice dealing with back- and neck-pain patients. But the laughter remains part of his prescription.

“I’ve found humor is a good tool,” Stephenson said. “There are a whole lot of people with chronic pain who haven’t laughed in a long time.

“When you get down to it, laughter promotes all kinds of good endorphins, which helps reduce pains and promotes deep breathing. A lot of these folks who are hurt just don’t breathe well. Their breathing pattern is (shallow). Laughter gives you little squirts of dopamine, the feel-good reward chemical in the brain.”

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By Phillip Molnar
Original Article From NYDailyNews.com

The economy is in the toilet, swine flu is sweeping the globe and a steady rain is ruining a spring day in New York.

What better time to celebrate World Laughter Day?

“I just can’t stop laughing,” said Stan Rifkin, 56, of the upper East Side, who joined 22 other gigglers in Central Park for the annual event Sunday.

“Laughter leaders” led chants of “ha ha,” and “ho ho” to keep the crowd busting out chuckles while the rain poured out of a steely gray sky.

“If you can’t make it, fake it,” said Vic Cabral, 38, of Woodside, Queens.

Cabral joins a group each week in laughter-inducing yoga sessions in midtown. “At first I thought people don’t laugh in New York,” said Cabral. “It opened my eyes.”

Dr. Mandan Kataria started the so-called yoga laughter movement in 1996 in Mumbai, India.

Members do exercises to fight different types of stress. They run in place, briefly stop to stare at their watches, and then gleefully throw up their arms, erupting in laughter.

“There’s nothing you can do about being late, so you might as well laugh,” said Alex Eigorn, 48, of Roosevelt Island, who led the group.

Eingorn trained with Dr. Kataria, who told him it was the group’s mission to create world peace.

“There’s certain things you can’t do while laughing: fighting, arguing, being mad,” Eingorn said.

For two hours, the group convulsed with laughter, ignoring trivial problems like the economic crisis or the flu pandemic.

In fact, Kathleen Maguire said a good case of the ha-ha’s can even help you beat any dreaded disease.

“When you do laughter yoga, your immune system builds up,” said Maguire, 56.

Maguire, originally from Madison, N.J., and her husband recently drove back east from California after he lost his job.

“We laughed the whole way here,” she said.