HEART MEDICINE

“A merry heart doeth good like medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” —Prov. 17:22

Here is a prescription for a healthy heart. Researchers at the University of Maryland discovered what Solomon wrote 3,000 years ago. Researchers found that when 20 healthy volunteers smiled and laughed while watching the comedy Kingpin, their blood flow increased by 22 percent?about the same increase caused by aerobic exercise. But when volunteers watched tension-filled scenes from Saving Private Ryan, their blood flow decreased 35 percent. The researchers say that laughing apparently causes the endothelium, the tissue that lines blood vessels, to expand, which increases blood flow. Laughter may also improve arterial health by reducing mental stress, which constricts vessels and cuts blood flow. A healthy lifestyle, researcher Michael Miller tells New Scientist, would include “30 minutes of exercise three times a week?and 15 minutes of hearty laughter each day.” —From The Week magazine (March 25, 2005)

It is not survival of the fittest… It is survival of the silliest!