Laugh Your Way To Better Health Essay

Health is a concern for people regardless of gender and age. Being healthy is necessary when it comes to many things such as living life and being successful. Many people tend to think of their physical state and all the weightlifting, running and dieting they could do to improve their health. But health is not only about a person's physical state, a person's mental state is just as important. To the surprise of many, the aspiration for better health can be achieved in the simplest of way. In USA Today, Sarah Schmelling writes about laughter and health in her article Laugh Your Way To Better Health. Although Sarah is a third party observer and someone who isn't an expert on the topic, she succeeds in informing the readers about how laughing is beneficial to health.
Sarah states that laughter is beneficial to health because it relieves stress and helps one socially. Information from another article Laughter is the Best Medicine concurs with what is being said. " Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. ....Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert" (Smith, Segal). She gives physical and mental effects of laughter such as decreased risk of heart attack, increase pain tolerance, increased intelligence, production of antibodies and protective cells that fight off disease and infections. Smith and Segal created charts, shown in fig 1, with lists that include benefits of laughter that Sarah mentions and more. In the article The Health Benefits of Laughter similar benefits are also mentioned: "research shows that when you laugh, there is an increase in oxygen-rich blood flow in your body, possibly due to the release of endorphins, which create a chemical rush that counters negative feelings and stress"(