Smile :) part seven: Live

They say laughter is the best medicine. Well it may not be the best, we have some pretty good stuff these days, but still. Did you know that laughter actually boosts the human immune system?

After exposure to humor, there is a general increase in activity within the immune system, including an increase in the number and activity level of natural killer cells that attack viral infected cells and some types of cancer and tumor cells, an increase in activated T cells (T lymphocytes) [...], an increase in the antibody IgA (immunoglobulin A), which fights upper respiratory tract insults and infections, [... and it keeps going!]

[ source: Holistic Online ]

The Archives of Internal Medicine recently published a study by a team of Dutch researches which found that being optimistic significantly reduced the risk of demise by heart disease in men. A blurb from a brief of the report:

Among men ages 64 to 84 who were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer, those who consistently looked at the bright side of life and had generally positive expectations had a 55% lower risk for cardiovascular mortality compared with gloomy pessimistic men.

[ source: MedPage Today ]

"Just the facts, Ma'am."