Laughter really is the best medicine! From easing back pain to keeping your heart healthy- experts tell DailyMail.com of the 6 surprising benefits of a 10 minute chuckle

It turns out, the old adage is true - laughter really is the best medicine.

Experts say it works wonders for your mental and physical health, with an ever-expanding body of research pointing to its healing powers.

According to doctors, laughter can aid in respiration, maintain heart health and manage stress, among other benefits.

Scientists still don't understand why we laugh, but they generally believe laughter is a byproduct of evolution that allowed our primitive ancestors to build trust and socialize with one another with the help of the neurochemical oxytocin. 

Laughing is most beneficial in social settings and is critical for building social bonds, something humans need, according to Dr Eileen Anderson, a psychologist who studies laughter at Case Western Reserve University.  

She told DailyMail.com: 'If we were selling laughter as a drug it would sell off the shelves because it both makes you feel better, and it calms you down. And it's accessible to everybody across the lifecycle and from all different backgrounds. And it's free.' 

According to doctors, laughter can aid in respiration, maintain heart health and manage stress, among other benefits 

When we laugh, we take a lot of deep breaths, which allows the body to take in more oxygen than it would otherwise, relaxing muscles.

The Canadian Lung Association says: ‘When you laugh, your lungs are rid of stale air and more oxygen can enter. This is because laughter helps to expand alveoli in your lungs.

‘These are tiny air sack – of which there are about 300 to 500 million! Expanding these means that the area for oxygen exchange is bigger and more oxygen enters your lungs.’

That boost in oxygenation improves respiratory function by relaxing muscles in the lungs and cardiac function by increasing circulation.

It is believed laughing has a positive effect on the inner lining of blood vessels, called the endothelium, by helping it release nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is known to relax the arteries that carry blood away from the heart.

Relaxed arteries are less likely to experience spasms and are more likely to stay open, allowing the smooth passage of oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. 

Dr Lindsay Wilson-Barlow, a clinical psychologist at the University of Utah, said: ‘Studies have shown that simply 20 seconds of laughter has the ability to double heart rate for the following three to five minutes. 

'As a result, [laughter advocate Norman Cousins] described laughter as “a form of jogging for the innards.”’

It’s no surprise that a hearty laugh at a comedic performance or a friend's joke can lift the dark clouds over your head during a time of mental distress, whether it's a bad breakup or a bout of depression.

The power of laughter goes neuron-deep. It decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol and alters the activity of dopamine, the body's reward hormone, and serotonin, the feel-good hormone. 

These neurotransmitters are instrumental in regulating emotions and motivation to chase goals and fulfill needs. 

Even forcing yourself to laugh can have benefits, and it's known as laugh therapy by clinicians who use it with patients. The ability to find humor in the world and allow yourself to laugh actually strengthens over time, like a muscle, Dr Anderson told DailyMail.com. 

She said: 'So people who make some kind of concerted effort to try and laugh will start to attune to funny things, and find themselves kind of laughing more throughout their life.' 

Laughing lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol as well as adrenaline, modulating the body's natural fight-or-flight response. It's also a crucial component of building social bonds thanks to oxytocin

Laughing also makes managing stress easier. It suppresses cortisol, the hormone that fluctuates in response to stress, and adrenaline. These are instrumental in instigating the body’s fight-or-flight response.

Dr Wilson-Barlow said: ‘Laughter induction initiates the fight-or-flight stress response. However, approximately 20 minutes after laughter, physiological measures such as heart rate, blood pressure, and muscular tension, drop below baseline levels.

‘A sense of physiological and psychological relaxation and calmness occurs that can last up to 45 minutes following the person’s last laugh.’

Laughing has been shown clinically to decrease levels of cortisol and adrenaline in people’s blood. A 1989 study tested the power of ‘mirthful laughter’ by dividing 10 men into two groups – one in which the men watched an hour-long funny movie, and a control group that did not.

The people who laughed saw a statistically significant decrease in cortisol circulating in their blood.

They also had significantly decreased levels of a compound that results from dopamine breaking down, which suggests that laughing actually slowed down the metabolism and breakdown of dopamine, allowing them to feel better.

While laughing can help us feel better emotionally, it also can help us feel better physically.

The act of laughing leads to the release of endorphins in the brain, which helps control pain.

A 1995 report in the journal Pain divided people into four groups of 20 and had them watch different movies. 

One group watched a comedic film, another watched a ‘repulsive’ film, the third watched a ‘neutral’ film, and group four watched nothing at all.

Both the humor and repulsive groups showed significantly higher pain tolerance when they immersed their hands in ice-cold water to measure how long they could withstand the discomfort compared to the neutral film group and the no-film group.

Research finds laughing can help to ease symptoms of heart disease 

Scientists in Brazil conducted a trial to examine whether 'laughter therapy' can improve cardiovascular symptoms. It looked at adults who had all been diagnosed with coronary artery disease. 

The repulsive group demonstrated the largest increase in pain tolerance, although the difference from the humor group was not statistically significant.

Lower cortisol and stress brought on by laughter also relieve muscle tension.

A 1999 study in the Lancet reported laughter can trigger muscles in the body to relax. 

Researchers from the Netherlands attached electrodes to volunteers’ legs to measure H-reflex, a neurological pathway that causes muscles to contract, and then showed them a series of slides meant to elicit some reaction.

Those people who laughed saw their muscle tension dissipate.

The researchers found said: ‘When the volunteers laughed out loud, their H-reflex virtually disappeared, whereas it decreased much less when they did not laugh.’

Laughter itself can act as a sort of muscle. The ability to tap into it as a means of feeling better emotionally or physically can be improved and strengthened. 

But Americans do not laugh enough, Dr Anderson told this website. But that's why more research is needed into why we laugh, what makes us laugh, and how we can best use that capacity for humor to our advantage.

SHE SAID: 'So many other cultures just had humor built in, and joy built in and relaxation built in. But we are like the 24/7 driving culture where you think you're gonna fall behind if you don't ride that wave. 

'I think that's why this research seems revolutionary. For us, it's it's in some ways countercultural, and that's why we can't just know this, we have to have something called laugh therapy, we have to prescribe it, we have to have programs for it.'