Smile Therapy as a Medical Choice
Smile Therapy as a Medical Choice
Over the centuries, there has been a breakthrough in medical science thanks to dedicated people who were committed to developing better medical options for the sick. Through technological advancements, deadly diseases which were considered incurable in the past can be treated, but a lot of health problems resulting from the industrialization came along as well. Norman Cousins who was an American political journalist, author and professor, had suffered from a rare disease and later miraculously recovered from it using smile therapy. He who is well known for writing a book about humor as an assistance to healing puts an emphasis on laughter to fight stress-related diseases. However, when it comes to adopting smile therapy as a medical choice, it definitely provokes controversy. Not a few people engaged in medical field insist that smile therapy be banned because of lack of medical evidence. Yet, smile therapy can be a reasonable choice in curing some diseases because it provides health benefits, relieves stress, and affects the brain positively. First of all, smile therapy presents noticeable medical effects to cure diseases. In particular, laughter can make a big difference in significantly reducing pain. When absorbed in humor, patients are likely to forget painful moments and it leads to activating hormones such as endorphin and enkephalin to control pain. In addition to restraining pain, research shows that laughter is beneficial to the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, muscular system, central nervous system and endocrine system. Furthermore, laughing can strengthen the immune system, allowing the body to stay away from diseases and fight colds and a flu and can even help people to cope with a certain type of diabetes (Mercola). Getting involved in humorous and cheerful situation, a number of related muscles and nerves are activated so that the body becomes stronger to fight diseases. Some doubters say that the
Over the centuries, there has been a breakthrough in medical science thanks to dedicated people who were committed to developing better medical options for the sick. Through technological advancements, deadly diseases which were considered incurable in the past can be treated, but a lot of health problems resulting from the industrialization came along as well. Norman Cousins who was an American political journalist, author and professor, had suffered from a rare disease and later miraculously recovered from it using smile therapy. He who is well known for writing a book about humor as an assistance to healing puts an emphasis on laughter to fight stress-related diseases. However, when it comes to adopting smile therapy as a medical choice, it definitely provokes controversy. Not a few people engaged in medical field insist that smile therapy be banned because of lack of medical evidence. Yet, smile therapy can be a reasonable choice in curing some diseases because it provides health benefits, relieves stress, and affects the brain positively. First of all, smile therapy presents noticeable medical effects to cure diseases. In particular, laughter can make a big difference in significantly reducing pain. When absorbed in humor, patients are likely to forget painful moments and it leads to activating hormones such as endorphin and enkephalin to control pain. In addition to restraining pain, research shows that laughter is beneficial to the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, muscular system, central nervous system and endocrine system. Furthermore, laughing can strengthen the immune system, allowing the body to stay away from diseases and fight colds and a flu and can even help people to cope with a certain type of diabetes (Mercola). Getting involved in humorous and cheerful situation, a number of related muscles and nerves are activated so that the body becomes stronger to fight diseases. Some doubters say that the
Cited: Mercola, Joseph. “Laugh and Smile Your Way to Health”. Mercola.com, 11 Oct. 2003. Mercola. 29 April. 2013. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/10/11/laugh-smile-part-two.aspx Sconiers, Harold E. “Health Benefits From Smiling”. Livestrong.com. 25 Jul. 2011. Livestrong. 29 April. 2013. < http://www.livestrong.com/article/18859-health-benefits-smiling> Riggio, Ronald E. “There’s Magic in Your Smile.” Psychologytoday.com, 25 June 2012. 29 April. 2013. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201206/there-s-magic-in-your-smile Carlson, Robert. “A Smile’s Positive Effect.” Dailyrx.com, 7 sep 2012. 29 April. 2013. http://www.dailyrx.com/smiling-effects-mental-and-physical-well-being