NAURAMINEN ON TERVEELLISTÄ

[Bb]

Lähettäjä: Soijuv Lähetetty: 23.1.2006 10:53

Tutkimusryhmästä osalle näytettiin elokuva joka aiheutti stressiä ja toiselle ryhmälle elokuva joka nauratti. Nauravan ryhmän verenkierto parani 50 %:lla.


Laughter is good for the heart
17 January 2006
Heart 2006; 92: 261­262
Laughter may be good for cardiovascular health, say researchers who found
that watching comedy films increased blood flow to the heart.

"Chronic life stressors such as depression, anxiety, hostility, and anger
may contribute to increased risk of coronary heart disease, in part by
impairing endothelial function [the cell layer lining the heart and blood
vessels]," explain Dr Michael Miller, from the University of Maryland
Medical Center in Baltimore, USA, and colleagues.

They add: "Because cinematic viewing evokes a range of negative and positive
emotions, the present study was designed to compare the effect of mental
stress versus laughter on endothelial function."

The team enrolled 20 non-smoking, healthy men and women, with normal blood
pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. After an overnight fast,
blood flow in each participant's brachial artery, which runs from the
shoulder to the elbow and is a good indicator of blood flow around the body,
was measured.

The volunteers were then assigned to view a 15­30 minute segment of a movie
designed to induce mental stress, such as the opening sequence in Saving
Private Ryan, or laughter, such as a clip from the comedy There's Something
About Mary.

The team found that the brachial artery constricted, reducing blood flow, in
14 of the 20 participants after watching the movie clips that caused mental
stress. In contrast, the brachial artery dilated, increasing blood flow in
19 of the participants after watching the film clips that generated
laughter.

The researchers report that the overall difference in blood flow resulting
from viewing the sad and happy film clips exceeded 50% in the volunteers.
They conclude that the extent of the impact on blood flow of watching a sad
film was the same as that caused by remembering episodes of anger and doing
mental arithmetic, while the impact of watching a funny film was equivalent
to a bout of aerobic exercise or starting treatment with
cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins.

The research is published in the current edition of the journal Heart.