MS PERSPECTIVES: The Value of Humor

By Ed Lash

“Laughter may not be the best medicine, but its positive effects on your mind and body are no joke.” –Mayo Clinic Health Letter

One day in 1862, Abraham Lincoln was meeting with his closest advisors. He read a humorous piece aloud to them, but Lincoln was the only one that laughed. “Why don’t you laugh?” he asked. “With the fearful strain that is upon me night and day, if I did not laugh I could die, and you need this medicine as much as I do.”

A short time after I started doing friendly visiting and peer counseling with the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society, I read some literature about the value of humor and was amazed at what authors and medical experts were saying. Many quoted Norman Cousins, who wrote Anatomy Of An Illness.

In 1964, Cousins was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a disease in which the spine is painfully inflamed and disintegrating. A specialist said Cousins had one chance in 500 for recovery. Cousins’ self-help strategy included good food, vitamins, a hopeful attitude, and humor, which he felt was therapeutic. His formulary of humor included watching humorous movies, reading comic strips, and listening to his nurse reading humor books to him. His pain was quite intense, but he found that 10 minutes of hearty laughter gave him two hours of painfree sleep.

Cousins did recover from his illness to live a normal life. I heartily recommend that everyone read Anatomy Of An Illness, or at least the 22 pages of Chapter 1. It’s an eyeopener and a good example of how self-help strategies can work together with doctors in a team effort to manage illness.

In another good book I can readily recommend, Love, Medicine & Miracles, Bernie S. Siegel, MD, states, “There are sound scientific reasons why we call robust, unrestrained laughter ‘hearty’. It produces complete, relaxed action of the diaphragm, exercising the lungs, increasing blood’s oxygen level, and gently toning the entire cardiovascular system. Cousins termed it ‘internal jogging’, and others have likened it to a deep massage.”

Researcher Lee Berk of Loma Linda University in California adds that because laughter both stimulates and soothes us, we feel “enlivened, refreshed and clearheaded, much as we do after an aerobic workout.”

It’s also been shown that forcing a smile or even smiling at someone you don’t like can result in some of the benefits of laughter. Way back in the 19th century, a French neurologist defined the characteristics of the truly joyful smile as contracting certain facial muscles that may result in positive emotions and happiness. Modern research has confirmed that. In one research study, those with lowered immune function were separated into two groups. One group was given time to smile for a number of minutes each hour, and their immune function improved significantly over the control group. It’s important to eat a well-balanced diet, get regular exercise, and maintain good sleep habits to help manage MS, but one hearty laugh a day may be just as vital.
And laughter requires no special training or equipment; all you need to do is develop your funny bone.

Note: Self-help is not intended to replace medical treatment. It should be used together with the help of appropriate professionals in a team effort.

Ed Lash is a United Spinal member who lives in Trumbull, Connecticut. This essay is adapted from his book, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, Self-help . . . A Patient’s View (Vantage Press 2001), which is available by e-mail from edlash.ms.selfhelp@juno.com, or by phone at 203-445-0118.