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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.”

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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.”

See more funny videos and funny pictures at MyHyena.com.

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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.

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Written by: Robert Roy Britt
Originally Found on FoxNews.com

Nobody can say if laughter is the best medicine, but it certainly seems to help. So suggests a new but very small study of diabetes patients who were given a good dose of humor for a year.

Researchers split 20 high-risk diabetic patients —all with hypertension and hyperlipidemia (a risk factor for cardiovascular disease)— into two groups. Both groups were given standard diabetes medication. Group L viewed 30 minutes of humor of their choosing, while Group C, the control group, did not. This went on for a year of treatments.

By two months into the study, the patients in the laughter group (Group L) had lower levels of the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, both considered to be measures of stress. Stress is known to be deadly.

After the 12 months, HDL cholesterol (the good kind) had risen 26 percent in Group L but only 3 percent in the Group C. In another measure, C-reactive proteins, a marker of inflammation and cardiovascular disease, decreased 66 percent in the laughter group but only 26 percent in the control group.

“The best clinicians understand that there is an intrinsic physiological intervention brought about by positive emotions such as mirthful laughter, optimism and hope,” said study leader Lee Berk of Loma Linda University. And other research has found that humor makes us more hopeful.

Still, more study is needed to determine what these results mean, Berk said.

Previous research by Berk and colleagues found that the mere anticipation of humor can bring about similar changes in body chemistry found in the new study, which will be presented this month at the annual meeting of the American Physiological Society.

Research in 2005 at the University of Maryland School of Medicine indicated that laughter causes the inner lining of blood vessels to dilate or expand, increasing blood flow in a manner thought to be healthy.

“Lifestyle choices have a significant impact on health and disease and these are choices which we and the patient exercise control relative to prevention and treatment,” Berk said in a statement this week.