The next time you’re feeling stressed, watch a comedy: Laughter has been proven to have a number of health benefits, including stress relief.

A recent study at the University of Maryland Medical Center indicates that laughter as a stress-reliever prevents cholesterol build-up in arteries. It is the first study to suggest a correlation between laughing and a decreased risk of heart disease. The cardiologists who conducted the research recommend that we try to take ourselves less seriously and to find humour in everyday life.

Humans aren’t the only creatures who laugh either. In a different study designed to determine the roots of laughter, researchers discovered – through tickling apes – that they too can laugh.

Experts at the Yerkes National Primate Research Centre at Emory University in Atlanta said that this research demonstrates how laughter traces back to a shared ancestor between humans and apes more than 10 million years ago.

Dr. Marina Davila Ross, the leading researcher of this study, told BBC News she plans to continue experiments to learn more about laughter functionality and behaviour similarities between humans and apes.

In the meantime, this research makes for a fun project – and that’s really what a study on laughter should be all about.

Helpguide.org states that the health benefits of laughter span across physical, mental and emotional health. Physically, laughing lowers stress hormones such as adrenaline, thereby relaxing us. Laughing is also a good workout for your heart and can prevent pain and associated disease.

Because it restores chemical balance in the brain, laughter also has the mental benefits of relieving stress and reducing anxiety. All of this contributes to a better mood.

The more we laugh, the more we enjoy life (and the more others enjoy being around us!).

Our enjoyment of life is fundamentally linked to a good social life. This is connected to emotional health. Laughter can help us to bond with others. It also heightens our teamwork skills and decreases the likelihood of conflict.

Improving our perspective on life can also have health benefits. Focusing on how life’s obstacles are a challenge rather than a step backward will increase our success in our goals. Finding the amusement in a given situation and laughing over it will help you see the situation in a new light.

Laughing really is contagious, so if someone you know is feeling blue, take them along with you to see that comedy. You will enjoy it even more and laugh even harder if you have someone to share it with.

To understand the fullness of what laughter can do for you, there are humor therapy, laughter yoga and laughter seminars worldwide.

But you don’t have to go to a seminar to learn how to laugh! Taking some time off from the everyday humdrum and joking around is enough to lighten the load and improve your health.

University of Winnipeg student Sagan Morrow writes a health and wellness blog. Check it out at Living Healthy in the Real World.

Published in Volume 64, Number 5 of The Uniter (October 1, 2009)