Is laughter the best medicine?

No. Nor is homeopathy. Nor crystals. Nor magnetic bracelets. Nor meditation.

Go and see your doctor!

Not the BEST, but it helps a lot of times, depending on the condition.

Ever had the pukies and someone makes you laugh? It makes your tummy hurt worse!

Laughter's good, better than denial, but it's not likely to keep you out of trouble in the first place.

Sometimes laughter even gets you in trouble, depending on what you are laughing at.

Ah, typical response from a scientific based mind. The best medicine for what ails you is not always found at your doctor. American doctors, at least where I live are open to alternative methods, herbs, more natural ways of doing things. Don't let science, medicine and the pharmaceutical companies blind you to other options.

I'd seek a doctor before a standup comedian if I found out I had hepatitis.

Having a scientific mind just means that I want medications to be tested before I trust my health to them. And I don't want to spend good money on placebos. Where herbs are tested and found to work by science, they stop being considered alternative. I'll trust my life to properly tested medicines over alternative stuff any day.

I feel exactly the opposite. Example: The following are excerpts from a prescription I just picked up at the pharmacy the other day. One of those "properly" tested medicines you'd prefer. (BTW, a perfectly normal med school student volunteered during this 'testing' of the drug prior to approval. She was unknowingly abruptly taken off the drug and given a placebo. She committed suicide two days later)
Anyways, you think you would take this after reading some of the below?

....May cause drowsiness or dizziness. Use caution driving
...Not recommended for use during pregnancy
...Drug may cause adverse side effects
..."DO NOT STOP TAKING THIS MEDICINE without first check with your doctor"..... (Afraid I might committ suicide like the med student??)
...Additional monitoring and lab tests may be required periodically
... Frequent use of alcohol with this medication may increase your risk for liver damage
... If you experience anxiety, panic attacks, hostility or any other major side effects not listed contact your doctor as soon as possible.

I see all kinds of potential harmful side effects to your body no matter what prescription I am given.

But at least those potential side-effects are known - you have been warned to be on the look out for signs of them and should be advised to take steps to avoid them (i.e. ensuring you don't eat or drink things that are likely to interact with the medication.) So-called alternative therapies are just as likely to cause side-effects (unless they're completely unreactive placebos but in that case they aren't doing you any good either) but with those, you don't know what they're going to be. Let's say I go on the pill to help with my periods - I know that the pill can cause migraines, varicose veins and increase my risk of deep vein thrombosis when I fly. So if I have a couple of migraines, I go back to my doctor and ask to try something else. At the first sign of varicose veins, my doctor takes me off the pill. When I fly, I take aspirin and wear safety stockings. Now let's suppose I take an alternative medicine that's been handed to me by someone working in a herb shop with no requirement to have any background in toxicology/pharmacology etc. Maybe my periods get better. Then, two years later I suddenly collapse, am rushed to hospital and told my liver is failing. It was caused by the alternative medicine I was taking, because the doseage I was given had never been tested and was too high. There had been warning signs, but I hadn't picked up on them.

Orthodox medicine is safer and more reliable than alternative therapies.

I think a physician prescribes efffective medicine. Laughter or tenacity is what an individual does to help himself.

There's a lot of evidence that seems to show attitude (e.g. good spirits, strong will to live, laughter) make a real difference in recovery. Most doctors know this and will usually project a positive attitude when interacting with their patients. No matter what the sickness, it's the body's own ability to heal itself that ultimately does the repair. Therapies really just help the body heal itself. There's no substitute for proven therapies, but adding laughter (i.e. a positive attitude) will generally help.

Depends on what's illin' ya.

No; it may help and there may be individual things that it is the best remedy for, but it's not a cure-all, sadly.

Yes, laughter is undoubtedly the best medicine available & it's free!

I knew at least one of you would choose the screw loose option

Laughter goes along with a positive attitude. I used humor constantly with my mother when she had Alzheimer's. It really helped. Of course, this is emotional support, physical problems need a doctor.

Ibuprofen is the best medicine, sod laughter.(I've got toothache)

Not for haemorrhoids.

Not for a headache. It tends to make it worse.

It depends on the malady.

Why so critical ? The strength of your objection must be directly proportional to the horrid negative experiences you must have had. We all have to leave a little room for 'maybe'.

There is room for maybe in my stance - plenty of "alternative therapies" on being tested prove to be interesting drugs. All I'm saying is that it is better to wait for them to be tested before taking them willy nilly - otherwise you are playing a dangerous game with both your health and your wallet. The strength of my objection is directly proportional to my ability as a scientist to understand the processes behind clinical trials.

Of course, following all the recommending guidelines will keep the scientists feeling safe and secure in the knowledge that they are not willfully harming the public...but where is your heart when millions cry out to be saved and are seeking something...anything...so in the end, they can truthfully say they have done everything that they could...left no stone unturned...tried their best (not necessarily the scientists best). this is the origin of faith with the seeds of hope that addresses a need that ,you, as a scientist, do not see as it isn't written on a piece of paper or not yet a statistic but felt in your soul. you can't have one without the other, biggles. there would be no need for creativity...no possibility of dreaming

I would enter into a proper discourse with you if I didn't see through you. I know you're just trying to bait me, as you've been baiting people right across the site. I don't mind playing along so far, as long as you know that's all I'm doing.

I bait no one. Why should I have to do that? It is perfectly acceptable for me to respect your views..as you should mine. And my statements are not unrealistic, though not very scientific, either. I will defend my right to create..either in the kitchen, a bakery, or where ever because it is easy to look at a bag full of ingredients and see just that..it is another to see the same bag of ingredients and see something spectacular. Your accusations are uncalled for and confusing. The only point I wanted to make was: i believe not everything has to be scientific.

I agree to disagree

I believe everything is scientific. Tell me, if not baiting, why do you repeatedly confuse people's ages and genders? It's clearly deliberate so don't pretend you're just slow on the uptake. Do you not consider that baiting?

I suppose I can imagine that.

I definitely believe in miracle cure's having had several myself, including gray hair, a bad knee, and an overnight recovery of a slipped disc which my doctor after an MRI said would leave me in paralyzing agony all my life.
The converse is also true. If you are a paranoid hypochondriac, you are likely to genuinely get the diseases you worry about getting.

Laughter is a health-inducing behavior, but the best medicine for any malady is typically something else.

Sometimes, esp. if it's reassurance people need.

I do not hear of very many people laughing their way through a ruptured aortic aneurysm, but whom am I ?

I hope I am getting better at both of those continual errors on my part but how am I to know genders with so many androgynous user names ? I suspect you have been on this site for quite some time and take for granted what a new user may not be familiar with. As for age, if I read adolescent-sounding posts...then I state that accordingly. I base age on wisdom I read in various posts and have not been too far off at that, as well. My only point of contention with you is the allegation that I am purposely baiting the users, for what purpose? I accept your position that everything is scientific but do not degrade me because I feel differently.

If that was the case, then South Park would cure cancer.

Well some may say, a positive attitude will prevent such things.

I don't know, who are you?

Tell that to a calcified cholesterol - filled weakened-walled aorta of a poor chap with uncontrolled high blood pressure.

Yes, I believe you may be right. Laughter is the best medicine.

I believe a lot of illness are a symptom of mental attitude.

I suppose that depends on what's ailing you.

No, I would tell him to quit eating at Mcdonalds.........

I didn't know it was a medicine.

I guess it can make you feel better if your just down.

yeh it is it kinda picks me up wen im down it makes me feel good inside!!!!

yes

it makes the world go round

sure...especially since Medicaid doesn't have to pay for laughter at all. In fact, laughter is available to everyone and anyone, no special requirements! No income brackets!! Since laughter is so readily available, and sometimes is issued in program formats, does that make me a mooch since i use it w/o actually paying for it??

Yes it is - Laughing releases endorphins which bind to the same receptors in our bodies as Morphine. That is a scientific fact. People who laugh regularly experience less pain, particularly in people with chronic pain.

Happy Birthday!

better than drugs

Sometimes.

Thx Wolf

You're welcome. Did you have a good birthday?

O-yeah, this has honestly been the best summer I've ever had.

I'm glad to hear that.

MOODicine!
(sorry)

Sometimes.