An international team of researchers has found that laughter improves patients' tolerance to pain and helps them to go through painful conditions.Researchers from university of Oxford collaborated with US and European scientist to conduct six seperate exprimental studies evaluating the effect of laughter on pain threshhold of a group of volunteers,AFP reported.5 groups of participants watched a factual documentary while the 6th one was shown comedy videos.Another test was conducted at the Edinburgh fringe festival,where volunteers either watched a stand-up comedy or a theatrical drama.The pain threshold of participants where tested before watching the videos.
Results showed that,5minutes of laughter increased the level of pain tolerance by around 10%,while serios programs and dramas had a pain-alleviation effect at all.
According to the report publshed in the proceedings of the Royal Society B,only a relaxed and unforced laughter was found to be helpful in increasing pain tolerance.This kind of belly laughter is far likely to happen when an individual is enjoying himself with others,rather than being alone."using microphones, we where able to record each of the participants"said Robin Dunbar,Lead author and head of the Institute of social and cultural anthropology.
Research suggested that laughter and humor trigger endorphins release in inner morphin like substances which suppress signals of physical pain and psychological stress.
Scientists,however,believed that during laughter,the endorphin release comes from an involuntary,repeated muscular exertion caused by exhaling without drawing breath.The exertion leaves us exhausted and thereby triggers the endorphins,they said.
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