A Man Walks into a Bar...

As some of my clients, friends, and most members of my family will attest, I love to laugh - who doesn't? I also like to make other people laugh - especially my two children. When my children laugh it brings me more joy than I could ever describe with just words - or I ever thought possible. I can only hope that you have had the same experiences, and that laughter invades your daily lives and covers you and your loved one's in a blanket of joy....

So in that spirit, I would like to share this wonderful article with my readers.

Healing with humor

Doctors say a dose of laughter may help with wellness

By Lisa Larson

Published: April 16, 2009
The Spectrum
St. George, Utah

An apple a day may not be the only way to keep the doctor away; some studies show a dose of laughter will do the trick too.

Based on an idea put forth by Norman Cousins who wrote the book "Anatomy of an Illness" in 1979, whether laughter can actually assist in healing, stress relief and overall wellness has been studied by numerous scholars since.

One study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., linked laughter to healthy function of blood vessels, according to an article on the University of Maryland Medical Center's Web site, noting that laughter "appears to cause the tissue that forms the inner lining of blood vessels, the endothelium, to dilate or expand in order to increase blood flow."

The study confirmed what other researchers have found, a link between mental stress and the narrowing of blood vessels.

"At the very least laughter offsets the impact of mental stress which is harmful to the endothelium," said Dr. Michael Miller, director of the Center for Preventative Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

"The endothelium is the first line in the development of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries," Miller said in an article on PsychologyToday.com. "So given the results of our study it is conceivable that laughing may be important to maintain a healthy endothelium, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease."

Locally, doctors like Bruce Hendrix, doctor of internal medicine with Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City, and Marty Nygaard, a pediatrician with Intermountain Medical Group at Red Rock Pediatrics in St. George, have studied the use of laughter less scientifically in their practices. Both have seen how using humor not only helps patients, but offers relief to family members and medical professionals as well.

"It's hard for us to let loose, especially for physicians," Nygaard said. "One of my callings in life is to help that along a little."

"People need to be able to laugh and have fun in their life," Hendrix said.

In the medical world, knowing when to use humor in your practice is a delicate balance, based on the patient's temperament and the severity of the situation. If the situation is serious, or if Hendrix has to deliver bad news, humor is never a part of the discussion. Other times laughter and humor can ease the tension in the room and in some cases helps the patient feel more comfortable opening up to the doctor.

Hendrix has also found humor to be helpful in dealing with his colleagues and staff, and in his life outside the medical world.

The more fun I have, the better I am as a father, husband (and) doctor," he said. "I think we adults forget that we need to have fun."

One example of Hendrix's humor is a gag he and several co-workers have participated in: duct taping an inflatable shark to the windshield of each others' cars.

"For me, personally, it's important to have some fun and laughter every day I come to the clinic," he said.

Nygaard agrees. Working with children in his practice lends itself to some youthful humorous antics, including everything from the way he dresses for work to the poems and songs he readily shares.

"I like to have fun and kids like to have fun, so it works out pretty well in that respect," Nygaard said.

Still, he doesn't get to laugh at work as much as he'd like to since many of his patients are not excited to be at the doctor to receive shots and other treatments. In order to offset the negative connotation of going to the doctor, Nygaard often wears kid-friendly ties Ñ such as Dr. Seuss themes Ñ has Goofy on his stethoscope and usually dresses up for Halloween. He also recites poems and jokes and even sings songs to entertain the children and their parents.

"I like to sing to them," he said of the parodies he creates out of recognizable tunes.

One of the favorites among his patients is a special birthday song, so much that some parents will purposely schedule their child's doctor appointment on their birthday so they can hear the song.

"We have a good time. It's a real burden to be a parent, especially if your child's sick, so we try to cheer them up," he said of his relationship with his patients' parents.

Like Hendrix, Nygaard said there is a definite balance to find when using humor with medical practice.

"We don't make light of a situation (when) somebody's really suffering," he said.

However, there are times when laughter may indeed be just what the doctor ordered.

Terri Draper, spokeswoman for Intermountain Healthcare in the Southwest Region, recalled a time when the hospital was giving away stress reliever squeeze toys called "wow cows." The mother of one of Draper's co-workers was a patient during that time and was in serious condition.

The co-worker gave one of these stress relievers to her father to lighten his mood. He started to laugh hard. He told his daughter "I feel so much better" after he tore the legs off the cow.

"It was exactly what he needed at that time," Draper said.

Whether someone is dealing with a medical problem or just getting through the stress of a day on the job, Nygaard said most people could use more humor in their life.

"I think a lot of our problems are because we take ourselves way too seriously," he said, adding that some people take the serious things too light-heartedly and vice versa.

"We can start to get down on ourselves and (humor) is a way to bring us out of those doldrums," he said. "I think (laughter is) a really important adjunct to any treatment that we have."

And, Laughter Is Indeed Good Medicine for diabetes patients.