Jan 16, 2006

Laugh, Laugh, Laugh To Prevent Heart Attack

Why don't you watch some comedy film and boosts the flow of blood to the heart rather than watching a sad film that would decrease the flow of blood to the heart. This advice is not from me, but from researchers who had conducted a study in this regard.

This study comes from University of Maryland researchers, who got 20 young people to watch movie segments lasting between 15 and 30 minutes, taken from comedy films and serious films, with at least 48 hours between the two sessions.

With the help of ultrasound, these subjects were measured for blood flow through the brachial artery, which runs from the shoulder to the elbow.

Blood flow was reduced in 14 of the 20 volunteers when they watched extracts such as the distressful opening scenes to "Saving Private Ryan". But it rose in 19 out of 20 when they watched funny clips, such as scenes from "Something About Mary".

The difference between the two flows was more than 50 percent, according to the study, which appears on Tuesday in a British specialized journal heart.

Watching a sad movie has about the same effect on heart flow as doing mental arithmetic, it says.

But watching a comedy is equivalent to a bout of aerobic exercise or starting a course of cholesterol-busting statin drugs.

Depression, anxiety, hostility and anger are already known to impair nitric oxide pathways that help blood vessels to dilate.

The authors tentatively suggest that a chuckle may stimulate selected hormones to have the opposite effect.

Daniel      

Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

Heart disease
About 13 million Americans (about 7 percent of the total population) suffer from coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in American men and women amounting a staggering 20 percent of all causes of death. About half of all deaths related to cardiovascular diseases occur from coronary artery disease. Through this heart watch blog we will have our humble contribution towards making men and women aware of the risks of heart diseases.