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Life can be very stressful. It would be helpful if there were actually "time outs" during the day for hearing a couple of jokes or watching a 15-minute humorous video. If it is true that it can be as healthy as aerobics, then we are getting double the advantage -- both a mental and physiological benefit.
Recently I have read a few articles about nursing homes hiring "comic coaches," to come in and cheer up the residents. Given the fact that many of these individuals have been alone for days except for staff, because they either do not have family or people live too far away to visit often, this added humor can surely be of great benefit. As noted by Berk, many of these elderly men and women are bedridden or in wheelchairs. What better way to have their body respond than through laughter?
Overall, it amazes me that so many studies have to be conducted to test whether or not laughter can be helpful. This is like saying whether or not a sunny day can be of benefit to most people. As Berk notes,...
if, on the whole even with mixed results, laughter can have some positive psychological and physiological effect on people, why even question using it as a one way to provide "medicine." Even a neutral reaction is better than none at all. All this research is a moot point. Why not say that laughter can't hurt but only help and bring laughter to those who are suffering, such as the elderly, in one way or another?
References:
Berk, R.A. (2001) the active ingredients in humor. Educational Gerontology. 27, 323-339.
Burchowski, M., Majchrazak, K., Blomquist, K. Chen, K., Byrne, D., and Bachorowski, J. (2007). Energy expenditure of genuine laughter. 31(1), 131-137
Martin, R. (2002). Is laughter the best medicine? Current Directions in Psychological Science. 11(6), 218-220
Miller M & Fry W.F. (2009) the effect of mirthful laughter on the human cardiovascular system. Med Hypotheses. 73(5), 636-639.
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