The Science of Laughter – Plus 10 Hilarious Videos

Joyful old man laughing

It has been proven scientifically for almost 50 years that laughter can help boost the body’s immune system, prevent cancer and help heal diseases of all kinds.

The Science of Laughter

First reported by a group of scientists lead by Ronald E. Smith from the University of Washington in 1971, laughter can significantly reduce levels of stress hormones in the body.[1][2][3]

By reducing blood concentrations of stress hormones[4] cortisol, adrenaline and others, the body’s immune system is strengthened[5] and becomes better able to fight off infections and every known disease and health condition, including cancer.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Simply Anticipating Something Funny Lowers Stress

Remarkably, just by visiting this web page, your anticipation of encountering something funny has ALREADY lowered your stress hormone levels, according to a group of scientists from Loma Linda University, California in a study from 2008.[14]  In this study, the anticipation of laughter reduced stress hormones cortisol, epinephrine and dopac by 39 percent, 70 percent and 38 percent, respectively.

Woman reducing risk of cancer with laughterMore Health Benefits of Laughter:

  1. Reduced risk of heart disease[15]
  2. Increased tolerance to pain and discomfort[16][17][18]
  3. Increased feelings of happiness and life satisfaction[19]
  4. Burns calories like exercise (10-15 minutes of laughter can burn 50 calories)[20]

The Top 10 Funniest Videos of All-Time

Now it’s time to put the scientific evidence we’ve presented above into practice so we can prevent cancer and live happier and healthier lives.

The following collection of videos are my top 10 favorite funny videos of all time!  I hope they make you laugh as hard as I do while watching them.  If you have your own favorite video, share it at the bottom of this post in the comments, I would love to watch it.

#10: ‘See You Tonight’ by Jack Vale

#9: ‘iWork’ by Edbassmaster

#8: ‘Leg Shaking Sharts’ by GilstrapTV

#7: ‘Whispering Needy Things to People’ by Andrew Hales

#6: ‘Loud Eating in the Library’ by JStuStudios

#5: ‘Awkwardly Staring at Strangers’ by BigDawsTv

#4: ‘Back Pain Wayne’ by Nathan Barnatt

#3: ‘Mumbles in the Hood’ by Edbassmaster

#2: ‘Drinking Alcohol at the Gym’ by NELK

 

#1: ‘Farting with Attitude’ by HumorBagel

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Don’t forget to share this article with your friends and family and let me know your favorite video of all time in the comments below.

References:

  1. Smith RE, Ascough JC, Ettinger RF, Nelson DA. Humor, anxiety, and task performance. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1971;19(2):243-6.
  2. Yovetich NA, Dale JA, Hudak MA. Benefits of humor in reduction of threat-induced anxiety. Psychol Rep. 1990;66(1):51-8.
  3. Ford TE, Ferguson MA, Brooks JL, Hagadone KM. Coping sense of humor reduces effects of stereotype threat on women’s math performance. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2004;30(5):643-53.
  4. Berk RA, Nanda J. A randomized trial of humor effects on test anxiety and test performance. 2006.
  5. Wooten P. Humor: an antidote for stress. Holist Nurs Pract. 1996;10(2):49-56.
  6. Hayward AR, Levy J, Facchetti F, Notarangelo L, Ochs HD, Etzioni A, Bonnefoy JY, Cosyns M and Weinberg A. Cholangiopathy and tumors of the pancreas, liver and biliary tree in boys with X-linked immunodeficiency with hyper-IgM. Journal of Immunology. 1997. 158(2):977-983.
  7. Lederman HM. Cancer in children with primary or secondary immunodeficiencies. J Pediatr. 1995;127(2):335.
  8. Van der Meer, J.W.M. et al. Colorectal cancer in patients with X-linked agammaglobulinaemia. The Lancet. Volume 341 , Issue 8858 , 1439 – 1440.
  9. Gatti RA, Good RA. Occurrence of malignancy in immunodeficiency diseases. A literature review. Cancer. 1971;28(1):89-98.
  10. Kinlen LJ, Webster AD, Bird AG, et al. Prospective study of cancer in patients with hypogammaglobulinaemia. Lancet. 1985;1(8423):263-6.
  11. Salavoura K, Kolialexi A, Tsangaris G, Mavrou A. Development of cancer in patients with primary immunodeficiencies. Anticancer Res. 2008;28(2B):1263-9.
  12. Schreiber RD, Old LJ, Smyth MJ. Cancer immunoediting: integrating immunity’s roles in cancer suppression and promotion. Science. 2011;331(6024):1565-70.
  13. Boshoff C, Whitby D, Talbot S, Weiss RA. Etiology of AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma and lymphoma. Oral Dis. 1997;3 Suppl 1:S129-32.
  14. Berk LS, Tan SA, Berk D. Cortisol and Catecholamine stress hormone decrease is associated with the behavior of perceptual anticipation of mirthful laughter. FASEB J. 2008;22:946.
  15. Hayashi K, Kawachi I, Ohira T, Kondo K, Shirai K, Kondo N. Laughter is the Best Medicine? A Cross-Sectional Study of Cardiovascular Disease Among Older Japanese Adults. J Epidemiol. 2016;26(10):546-552.
  16. Dunbar RIM, Baron R, Frangou A, et al. Social laughter is correlated with an elevated pain threshold. Royal Society. 2011.
  17. Stuber M, Hilber SD, Mintzer LL, Castaneda M, Glover D, Zeltzer L. Laughter, humor and pain perception in children: a pilot study. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2009;6(2):271-6.
  18. Mahony DL, Burroughs WJ, Hieatt AC. The effects of laughter on discomfort thresholds: does expectation become reality?. J Gen Psychol. 2001;128(2):217-26.
  19. Tse MM, Lo AP, Cheng TL, Chan EK, Chan AH, Chung HS. Humor therapy: relieving chronic pain and enhancing happiness for older adults. J Aging Res. 2010;2010:343574.
  20. Griffin R. Morgan. Give Your Body a Boost – With Laughter. Webmd [online]. Available: http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/give-your-body-boost-with-laughter#1 [August 5, 2017].