Ha-ha-ha for good health
By R.C. Sharma

DO you have indigestion, dyspepsia, gastric trouble, asthma, heart ailments, poor appetite or any other health disorder? If so, you are consuming more pills than food, besides straining your purse. A prescription which comes free of cost is to just laugh away all the ailments.

Join any of the laughing clubs near your home and stop visiting doctors. Not only do you save money on costly medicines but also avoid the attendant tension. It is not a brand new idea, but the fact remains that very few have researched that laughter is the best medicine and a definite remedy for a wide range of diseases and behavioural disorders.

All that the suffering people have to do is to enrol themselves as members of a laughter clinic. Apart from jogging or walking, they must cultivate the habit of laughing full throatedly for a specific duration.

According to psychologists, by laughing we eliminate tension, conquer aches, pains and (what is important) promote a more meaningful relationship with others. ‘‘The latest research on human behaviour across the globe is increasingly veering round to the importance of laughter and a smiling demeanour as we go through life’’, says psychiatrist John Marshall of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, USA.

The classic advice for anger-control — count to ten — has survived for centuries. However, unless you undergo a cathartic effect through humorous means, your strained nerves will not relax. Psychologists have started using laughter therapy with clients who have high blood pressure. People who have undergone the therapy will confirm its success.

When the orthopaedic and neuro-specialists gave the final verdict to the editor of The Saturday Review, Norman Lewis in 1964 that his days were numbered, he took some vitamin tablets and burst into laughter. And the rest is history; Lewis not only outlived the span predicted by his doctors, his book Anatomy of Illness composed during that period proved to be a smashing best-seller of the decade and made him rich.

Laughter clinics in India are barely four years old. According to the official record, a Mumbai-based organisation ‘Priyadarshini Laughter Club International’ started such a clinic in March 1995, which gradually spread to other parts of the country.

In Calcutta, though the idea has received a belated recognition, it took firm roots in Rabindra Sarovar in the southern part of the City of Joy and quickly spread to the mofussil areas in North Bengal. A casual visit early in the morning to the Sarovar will surprise many. A smiling, giggly crowd comprising men and women of different age groups form a circle in the park and leading them is a Nepalese teenager!

It sounds unbelievable, but true. Talk to anyone of them and they unfold their tales of renewed zest for life without forgetting to mention their cases of traction, insomnia, pain-killer, inhaler or headache.

‘‘According to modern scientific research’’, says Dr Schweisheimer, ‘‘laughter affects all the organs of the body from the lungs to the intestines. Laughter speeds the cure of disease. Laughter has been looked upon nature’s innovation to compensate for the diminished organic friction and massage of the internal organs, caused by man’s erect position.

‘‘There are first and foremost the lungs. Laughing moves the diaphragm up and down, and air is drawn into the lungs and then forcibly ejected until every portion of the lungs is thoroughly ventilated. Even deep inhaling will not approach in thoroughness the effect of good hearty laughter. Laughter causes a massage of the liver. This means a greater flow of bile which is produced by the liver.

‘‘People who laugh during meals enjoy better digestion of food and better absorption of nourishing materials than people who are moody and dissatisfied while eating.

‘‘Laughter gently massages the endocrine glands, and thus increases their secretion. The thyroid gland, the suprarenals, and the pancreas are directly stimulated by laughter, and as all endocrine glands are affected by each other’s secretion, laughter affects the whole chain of glands. Laughter stimulates the pituitary gland, that pea-sized lump at the base of the brain.’’

Madan Kataria says, ‘‘Within the medical fraternity, there are still 10-15 per cent who are sceptical. They call it ‘‘nonsense’’. Doctors always look for logic. However, there are many medical associations who believe that laughter is the right treatment for today. It has been scientifically proven that laughter is beneficial to the system — no matter how it comes. The body cannot distinguish between artificial and spontaneous laughter. I welcome the challenge of sceptics.’’

Lavina Melwani has interesting findings to narrate. She says: ‘‘Humour and compassion — two vital qualities — have been outlawed in many busy hospitals. Now comes a heart-warming film from Hollywood that proves laughter is indeed the best medicine. Patch Adams, starring Robin Williams is based on a remarkable true story of a bold and unconventional medical student whose unwavering belief in treating patients as people first often set him at odds with the system, putting his medical career at risk.

Adams became determined to be a healer and at a late stage in his life became a medical student at the Medical College of Virginia. From day one, he was interested in connecting to people and making them smile. Patch became committed to finding a way to incorporate compassion, laughter and humanity into the healing process. After graduation, Dr Patch Adams formed the Gesundheit Institute, a free-form, non-traditional clinic dedicated to a more connected personalised approach to medicine. Here with the help of like-minded doctors, he treated thousands of patients.

According to the film’s director Tom Shadyac, ‘‘Today we know about endorphins and the importance of the mind in the healing process. That knowledge didn’t exist back in the 60s and 70s when Patch was forming his philosophy. It was a radical concept then. He is really a pioneer in the discovery of the medicinal value of laughter and compassion.’’

Therefore, laugh heartily, ha-ha-ha. Fight off your ailments and stay fit.