RESEARCH - Laughter healthy for diabetes patients

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Laughter Healthy for Diabetes Patients

Watching a Funny Video for 30 Minutes Per Day May Help High-Risk Type

2 Diabetes Patients Improve Heart Health

By Miranda Hitti

WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

April 17, 2009 -- Laughter could have serious heart benefits for

people with diabetes, a new study shows.

The study comes from Lee Berk, DrPH, MPH, of Loma University and

Stanley Tan, MD, PhD, of Oak Crest Health Research Institute in Loma

, Calif.

They studied 20 high-risk type 2 diabetes patients who also had high

blood pressure (hypertension) and high cholesterol levels

(hyperlipidemia).

All of the patients got routine medical care. In addition, the

researchers asked half of the patients to choose a funny video to

watch for at least 30 minutes a day. " They could watch more if they

wanted to, " Berk tells WebMD via email. He adds that the patients

chose from TV shows and movies, picking whatever they thought would

make them laugh. " We could/should not determine what was 'funny' for

them, " Burk says.

Those patients made up the laughter group; the other patients served

as a comparison group.

During the yearlong study, the patients got blood tests every two months.

After only two months, the patients in the laughter group had a better

HDL ( " good " ) cholesterol level than the patients in the comparison

group. Four months into the study, the laughter group had lower blood

levels of certain inflammatory chemicals.

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Read the full article here:

http://www.webmd.com/heart/news/20090417/laughter-healthy-for-diabetes-patients

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