Laughter
Cuts Blood Sugar in Diabetics
A study shows that diabetics may be better able
to process the sugar they consume during meals
if they order a side of laughter with their food.
Laugh
if you will, but a group of researchers in Japan
found that people with type 2 diabetes -- the
most common form of the disease -- had a smaller
rise in post-meal blood glucose (sugar) when they
watched a comedy show than when they listened
to a humorless lecture.
The researchers, led by Dr. Keiko Hayashi from
the University of Tsukuba, also found the same
results in people without diabetes.
Poorly
controlled blood sugar can increase the risk of
diabetes complications such as heart disease,
kidney failure and blindness.
Hayashi
stated that people with diabetes have a lot to
worry about -- diet, exercise and keeping their
glucose and insulin levels in check. And stress
is known to increase the risk of elevated blood
glucose, the researcher noted.
"If
positive emotion such as laughter reduced blood
glucose, both patients and medical providers would
recognize the importance of it, and it would improve
their mental health" and quality of life,
Hayashi said.
"We should laugh more," the researcher
added.
Plenty
of studies have shown that laughter can combat
many common ills. For instance, research suggests
that humor may lower blood pressure and release
endorphins.
Laughter
is also thought to improve circulation, stimulate
the nervous system, heighten the immune system
and make the heart stronger.
All
of the diabetic patients included in the study
had type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body
fails to respond to insulin, the hormone that
clears the blood of sugar after a meal and deposits
it into cells to use for energy.
During the study, reported in the May issue of
the journal Diabetes Care, Hayashi and colleagues
measured the blood glucose levels of 19 diabetics
and five non-diabetics before and after they ate
the same meal, on two separate days.
On
one day, participants listened to a 40-minute
lecture, which the researchers describe as "monotonous"
and "without humorous content." On the
second day, participants were included in an audience
of 1,000 people who watched a Japanese comedy
show.
At
the end of the show, "most" participants
"considered that they laughed well,"
the authors note.
The researchers found that post-meal blood glucose
levels were higher after the boring lecture than
after the comedy show, in diabetics and non-diabetics
alike.
Hayashi
noted that the reasons why laughter might reduce
blood glucose are not clear, but suggested that
laughter could increase energy consumption by
working the abdominal muscles.
Alternatively, the researcher said, laughter might
affect the neuroendocrine system, which controls
glucose levels in the blood. Diabetes Care 2003;26:1651-1652.
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