Charlie Chaplin said that a day without laughter was a day wasted. That is absolutely true. But recent studies have also suggested that laughing too hard can possibly kill you, literally, in spite of the fact that laughter has a lot positive benefits for your health. In other words, you can laugh till you die, and now let us see how laughter can kill you.
According to Wikipedia, "laughter is a physical reaction in humans and some other species of primate, consisting typically of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system". Thus, when you laugh, your body is actively reacting to external or internal stimuli such as being tickled or reading humorous stories or having funny thoughts. This physical reaction, especially when hysterically made, can drive certain organs of your body to stop working and lead you to death.
Here are several negative impacts to your body that can be triggered by uncontrolled laughing: Psychological harms. Laughter reduces your determination and interrupts your concentration; Cardiovascular harms. Laughter can trigger conduction anomalies and arrhythmias, and also cardiac rupture; Respiratory harms. The quick intake of breath that accompanies laughter can incite inhalation of foreign objects. It could also trigger an asthma attack; Central nervous system harms. Laughter, like many other pleasurable things such as sex, can cause headaches; Gastrointestinal harms. A good belly laugh can cause a hernia protrude. But failure to laugh is an important indication of intra-abdominal infection in children; Musculoskeletal harms. Laughing ecstatically can displace your jaw; Urinary tract harms. Laughing can cause stress incontinence or the loss of bladder control. Well, I guess it means you will laugh till you pee your pants.
Sometimes the laughter itself may not kill you, but it can be an indication about something really bad in your body, something that can definitely kill you. For example, pathological laughter can be the first sign of a stroke in some people. In others, outbursts of unexpected laughter may actually be the manifestation of seizure. These seizures may be the first sign of brain tumors, tuberous sclerosis, hydrocephalus and other stuff that absolutely can and will kill you if you do not take any precautions.
Let us now see the case examples below to find out who had died of laughing throughout history:
According to Wikipedia, "laughter is a physical reaction in humans and some other species of primate, consisting typically of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system". Thus, when you laugh, your body is actively reacting to external or internal stimuli such as being tickled or reading humorous stories or having funny thoughts. This physical reaction, especially when hysterically made, can drive certain organs of your body to stop working and lead you to death.
Here are several negative impacts to your body that can be triggered by uncontrolled laughing: Psychological harms. Laughter reduces your determination and interrupts your concentration; Cardiovascular harms. Laughter can trigger conduction anomalies and arrhythmias, and also cardiac rupture; Respiratory harms. The quick intake of breath that accompanies laughter can incite inhalation of foreign objects. It could also trigger an asthma attack; Central nervous system harms. Laughter, like many other pleasurable things such as sex, can cause headaches; Gastrointestinal harms. A good belly laugh can cause a hernia protrude. But failure to laugh is an important indication of intra-abdominal infection in children; Musculoskeletal harms. Laughing ecstatically can displace your jaw; Urinary tract harms. Laughing can cause stress incontinence or the loss of bladder control. Well, I guess it means you will laugh till you pee your pants.
Sometimes the laughter itself may not kill you, but it can be an indication about something really bad in your body, something that can definitely kill you. For example, pathological laughter can be the first sign of a stroke in some people. In others, outbursts of unexpected laughter may actually be the manifestation of seizure. These seizures may be the first sign of brain tumors, tuberous sclerosis, hydrocephalus and other stuff that absolutely can and will kill you if you do not take any precautions.
Let us now see the case examples below to find out who had died of laughing throughout history:
- Zeuxis, a 5th-century BC Greek painter, had died of laughter at the humorous way he painted the goddess Aphrodite.
- Chrysippus, a 3rd-century BC Greek philosopher, had died of laughter after he saw a donkey eating his figs.
- King Martin of Aragon had died from a combination of indigestion and uncontrollable laughter in 1410.
- Pietro Aretino had died of suffocation from laughing too much in 1556.
- Thomas Urquhart had died laughing in 1660 upon hearing that Charles II had taken the throne.
- Farmer Wesley Parsons had died two hours after laughing for an hour over a joke in 1893.
- Alex Mitchell from England had died of laughter on 24 March 1975 while watching the "Kung Fu Kapers" episode of The Goodies. The diagnosis suggested that Mitchell might have died of a cardiac arrest caused by long QT syndrome.
- Ole Bentzen, a Danish audiologist, had died of laughter while watching A Fish Called Wanda. His heart was estimated to have beaten at 250–500 beats per minute before he suffered cardiac arrest in 1989.
- Damnoen Saen-um, a 52 year old Thai ice cream salesman, died after two minutes of laughter. He was believed to have suffered heart failure in 2003.
- In Papua New Guinea, there is an infectious disease called kuru (similar to Mad Cow Disease) also known as “laughing sickness”.
Now, how do you know if you are just laughing normally or having a serious condition with your health? Checking out the cause of your laughing can be helpful. If you are laughing while watching funny movie or when someone is tickling you, it is probably normal. But, if you find yourself laughing to yourself for no apparent reason even when you have no funny thoughts in your mind, you probably have a brain tumor.
Well, we are all going to die anyway when the time has come. Keep laughing as laughter is still the best medicine for most people and it will positively enlighten your day and the people around you. Laughter can kill you, but it can not kill your spirit. Cheers!
Well, we are all going to die anyway when the time has come. Keep laughing as laughter is still the best medicine for most people and it will positively enlighten your day and the people around you. Laughter can kill you, but it can not kill your spirit. Cheers!
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Photo: Freeimages.com/nas kamui
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Laugh Till You Die: How Laughter Can Kill You
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