A giggle is at the origin of a multitude of reactions of the body, beneficial to our health. Beyond the good mood it arouses, it relaxes the diaphragm muscle, releases tension and triggers the production of substances linked to well-being – endorphins, or “happiness hormones”. According to a preliminary study, published in the scientific journal PLOS One end of June, the laughter therapy would also help cancer patients improve their quality of life.
Laugh therapy
“The people of Osaka, Japan love to laugh and make people laugh. We wanted to prove the relationship between this fact and their quality of life.”, declares to the site PsyPost study author Toshitaka Morishima of the Osaka International Cancer Institute. For example, the researchers conducted the trial on 56 patients aged 40 to 64 who had been diagnosed with cancer. Randomly, some participants were part of the control group. Others benefited from a laughter therapy session every two weeks, for a total of four sessions.
These sessions included a routine of laughter yoga, a “group practice involving voluntary laughter, bodily exercise including stretching, clapping and body movements”, describe the researchers. This was followed by a Rakugo (literally “story that ends with a funny fall”), a form of Japanese comedy performed by a single meter, or by a Manzai, a traditional comedy show featuring a comedic duo. established who exchanges jokes very quickly.
At the same time, the quality of life of the volunteers was assessed using a questionnaire from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer. Ultimately, laughter therapy was associated with improvements in self-reported cognitive functioning and to a pain reduction in patients who benefited from it compared to the control group.
A beneficial non-invasive intervention
Results that scientists explain by several mechanisms: “The positive emotions induced or accompanied by laughter may have enabled patients to reduce stress response and ease tension by lowering stress-inducing hormones, such as cortisol, epinephrine, and growth hormones; this in turn may have a positive effect on the cognitive functioning of patients “, they write. As for the reduction of ailments, “Previous studies have shown that treating laughter increases pain tolerance and reduces pain perception through physiological analgesia mechanisms involving the release of endorphins”.
Laughter therapy could thus represent a “beneficial non-invasive complementary intervention”, they say. More research will be needed to confirm these hypotheses, and to determine whether regular laughing also prolongs patient life. “When people are diagnosed with cancer, they shouldn’t forget to laugh”, Toshitaka Morishima already concludes.
Read also :
- 5 liberating exercises to learn to laugh
- American hospital offers laughter therapy
