Humor - The Best Medicine
By Ng Hui Cheng,
Senior Pharmacist, NCC
Pharmacists are generally regarded as the “drug guru”. Being a pharmacist for nearly 8 years, there is a tendency for me to use medicine to treat every disease and every sickness. But recently, when I was asked to write something on humor, which seems so foreign and so out-of-place in the medical field that I am so familiar with, I decided to do a “Google” search to see what is there in humor that I can use in my article. To my surprise, there are many real life stories on how humor has helped people who are chronically sick to get better. It triggered me to search for any scientific evidence to support this claim.
There were published studies showing that laughing lowers the blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, and boosts the immune system by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, disease-fighting proteins called Gamma-interferon and B-cells, which produce disease-destroying antibodies. Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being.
In fact, in some hospitals overseas, there are registered humor therapists who go around the hospital dressed as clowns, to bring laughter to the patients. And some of these patients even requested that they receive their humor therapy first before taking their painkillers as they found that the pain relieving effect works better that way.
Best of all, humor is free and can come in any doses and any frequency. There is no maximum tolerated dose to worry about and one can have it for as often as one likes. Not only is it worth a try for patients, anybody who is having a hectic lifestyle can use humor to de-stress. Laughter can also make the hospital environment warm and friendly, it helps bring people together and make the hospital a better place for both the patients as well as the staff. |
