Medicinal mirth gets research rebuke.The belief that laughing and humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was promote physical health is widespread. A growing movement among health-care workers touts "therapeutic humor" through seminars, workshops, videotapes, and Web sites. However, results of research on the purported health benefits of mirth call to mind a well-told joke with a punch line punch line n. The climactic phrase or statement of a joke, producing a sudden humorous effect. punch line Noun the last line of a joke or funny story that gives it its point Noun 1. that falls flat. Or so concludes psychologist Rod A. Martin of the University of Western Ontario Western is one of Canada's leading universities, ranked #1 in the Globe and Mail University Report Card 2005 for overall quality of education.[2] It ranked #3 among medical-doctoral level universities according to Maclean's Magazine 2005 University Rankings. in London, Ontario. "Despite the popularity of the idea that humor and laughter have significant health benefits, the current empirical evidence is generally weak and inconclusive INCONCLUSIVE. What does not put an end to a thing. Inconclusive presumptions are those which may be overcome by opposing proof; for example, the law presumes that he who possesses personal property is the owner of it, but evidence is allowed to contradict this presumption, and show who is ," Martin says. Martin's review of 41 scientific articles, published since 1960, that relate humor or laughter to various aspects of physical health appears in the July PSYCHOLOGICAL BULLETIN. Several experiments have found signs that watching funny videos bolsters people's immune systems immune system Cells, cell products, organs, and structures of the body involved in the detection and destruction of foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Immunity is based on the system's ability to launch a defense against such invaders. . However, other comedy-exposure studies found either no changes or even declines in immune system function. Scientists have yet to establish whether any component of immunity corresponds to how much a person laughs at funny material, Martin says. Evidence that watching humorous videotapes boosts pain tolerance Pain tolerance is the amount of pain that a person can withstand before breaking down emotionally and/or physically. Pain tolerance is distinct from a pain threshold. The minimum stimulus necessary to produce pain is the pain threshold. is also ambiguous, he remarks. Comparable rises in pain tolerance occurred in a few studies in which people watched sad or disgusting videotapes, suggesting that various emotional states take some of the sting out of physical hurts. People with a good sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour , as measured on questionnaires, have yet to display any marked advantages in immunity, pain resistance, or susceptibility to physical illness over those with weaker funny bones, Martin notes. Published reports provide little support for the theory that a sense of humor diminishes daily stress levels and none for the notion that it adds years to one's life, he adds. Not that humor and laughing aren't worthwhile. People who make others laugh may make friends especially easily, Martin theorizes. If so, they probably reap the well-established health benefits of having many supportive relationships. Also, certain humor styles, such as self-deprecation, possibly improve relationships and physical health over time, while other approaches, such as sarcasm, may do the opposite. |
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