Objectives: Laughter has long been regarded as beneficial for health, but the mechanisms are not clearly understood. The current study aimed to compare the acute cardiovascular effects of spontaneous and simulated laughter.
Design: A mixed factorial experiment was performed to examine changes in cardiovascular variables in response to experimental tasks across conditions.
Interventions: A sample of 72 participants were randomised to one of three 6 min interventions. Participants in the simulated laughter condition were asked to generate fake laughter, the spontaneous laughter condition viewed a humorous video, and the control condition watched a non-humorous documentary. This was followed by a laboratory stress task.
Main Outcomes Measures: Heart rate and heart rate variability (as indexed by rMSSD) were monitored continuously throughout the experiment using ECG.
Results: The simulated laughter condition had a significantly higher heart rate (p < .001, η = .26) and lower rMSSD (p < .001, η = .13) during the laughter task compared to the other two conditions. Follow-up hierarchical regressions indicated that the difference in heart rate was due to the fact that the simulated condition produced more laughter. The difference in rMSSD, however, was unique to the simulated condition even when controlling for the amount of laughter. The simulated laughter condition had a significantly lower mean HR during the stress task but this was not significant after controlling amount of laughter produced.
Conclusions: Laughter leads to increased heart rate and reduced heart rate variability, which is similar to the effects of exercise. This finding is more pronounced in simulated laughter.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2018.02.005 | DOI Listing |
Heat-resistant chocolate is of much interest to confectionery companies for marketing in tropical areas. Methods exist to produce heat-resistant chocolate by exposing the product to high relative humidity (RH) and increased temperatures. The overall objective of this research project was to explore the curing of white chocolate (30% whole milk powder, 44% sucrose, and 26% cocoa butter) to make it heat resistant and able to be picked up at 33 and 55°C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurourol Urodyn
January 2025
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Sancaktepe Sehit Prof. Dr. İlhan Varank Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey.
Nurs Inq
October 2024
School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Within the context of neoliberal healthcare, nurses and other health professionals face working conditions that leave them perpetually feeling inadequate, as though they are not enough. They are consistently expected to achieve more with less resources. In such an environment, mere professionalism proves wholly insufficient, enforcing norms of altruism and kindness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWorld J Clin Cases
July 2024
Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Traditional Chinese Medical University, Fuzhou 350003, Fujian Province, China.
Background: Gelastic seizure (GS) is a rare type of epilepsy that most commonly appears in patients with hypothalamic hamartoma. It is rarely associated with other types of brain damage. This particular type of epilepsy is relatively rare and has few links to other brain lesions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Epilepsy Res
June 2024
Department of Neurology, Meitra Hospital, Calicut, India.
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