Laughter may be best painkiller

BEIJING. September 14. KAZINFORM A new study found that a good laugh will help people alleviate pain, according to findings published Wednesday in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B of Britain's de-facto academy of sciences.

Researchers from the University of Oxford first tested the pain threshold of volunteer participants before carrying out experiments.

During lab-based experiment, these participants watched humorous video clips, such as "Mr Bean" or "Friends," or boring programs, Kazinform cites Xinhuanet.

During another test at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the volunteers watched either a stand-up comedy show or a theatrical drama.

For the lab experiment, researchers tested pain by wrapping participants' arms in a frozen wine-cooling sleeve or a blood-pressure cuff, while at the live shows, they tested pain by letting participants squat against a wall until they collapsed.

The study found that those who just had belly laughs can withstand 10 percent more pain than before watching the humorous videos, while the other group was less able to bear pain after watching boring programs.

Professor Robin Dunbar of Oxford University, who led the research, explained that real laughs release endorphins, a chemical that can reduce pain.

Dunbar added that the rush of endorphins is also thought to help us bond with others, perhaps explaining why laughter plays such an important role in our social lives.

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