The hospital clowns Ræppe Tæppe Tipptopp and Zapp cautiously approach five-year-old Alisa, who is sitting and drawing in a waiting room at St. Olav’s hospital. It doesn’t take long before they have conjured both smiles and a bit of laughter. The little girl obviously forgets that she is in a hospital. – We are a different input that can contribute to enjoyment of life and bring out the healthy in the child. We don’t look for the sick, but the healthy. No matter how sick they are, there is always something in there that wants to play, says Siri S. Juvik (aka Ræppe Tæppe Tipptopp). Now researchers have also tried to find out how laughter affects health. The results were striking. Five-year-old Ukrainian Alisa both smiles and laughs at the hospital clowns. Photo: Morten Waagø / news Laughter affects the hormones – It is difficult to prove in studies, but laughter has been known as good medicine for centuries. So says Caroline Kramer at the University of Toronto, Canada. She is leading a meta-study that has investigated the medical effects of laughing. In her investigations, she has gone through eight different research studies. In most of them, the laughter was elicited by the participants sitting in front of a screen and watching short humorous videos. But also results in studies that have evaluated the effect of professional laughter therapy have been examined. And the conclusion is that the level of the hormone cortisol drops sharply, says Kramer. – I was not surprised that laughter proved to have a positive effect on the cortisol level, but the reduction was so striking that it should be investigated further whether laughter should be part of an overall clinical treatment. Researchers on laughter: Dr. Caroline Kramer and Dr. Cristiane Leitao are behind the study on laughter as medicine. Photo: Private Reduces stress Cortisol is often called the “stress hormone”. The hormone affects the absorption of glucose (sugar) in the body – and it also controls our immune system. The review of the studies shows that the level of cortisol on average drops by as much as 32 percent thanks to laughter. Just with a simple laugh ball, the level can actually drop by 37 percent. – The tests in our study look at the effect of spontaneous laughter, but there are also studies that show that induced laughter, for example by tickling, can have an effect. Introducing humor into clinical treatment has enormous potential. In addition, laughter increases the level of serotonin and dopamine, the so-called “happy hormones”. Norwegian champion in smiling: Some have a slightly more infectious laugh than others (from Sommeråpent 2019). Maybe you will get better health from watching the clip? Can be an addition to treatment Laughter cannot replace traditional medical treatment, but can appear to be an effective additional treatment. Jonas Kinge Bergland is both a doctor and a comedian. He sees the connection, but also the challenges. – It is not so easy to be funny in a meeting with patients who may be in a difficult situation, but it is not so difficult to imagine the health-giving effect of laughter, he says. – It can, for example, have a positive effect on blood pressure over time. It can be difficult to use humor when dealing with patients, says doctor and stand-up comedian Jonas Kinge Bergland. Photo: Sondre Børrestad/Stand Up Norway Smiles and laughter in hospital Back at St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim, the hospital clowns are busy spreading joy to other children in the waiting room. 19 hospitals in Norway have hospital clowns in the children’s wards. – We participate and assist in medical procedures. I think there is something about relaxing, letting go of your worries a little. When hospital clowns are present, there may be less use of drugs. Elizabeth Piro Volan (alias Zapp) says that it varies what causes laughter in the children, but that there is often a smile when the clowns struggle with completely everyday things. – It’s often funny when we’re stupid and can’t do ordinary things. When we struggle to enter a door, many children find it hysterically funny. We experience quite a lot of gap scratching when we don’t get to do simple tasks like that. Six and a half year old William is the next patient the clowns pick up. Dad Alex Rufus says that laughter has meant a lot to the boy in hospital. – He was in a lot of pain the first few days here. There wasn’t much laughter then, but when he met the clowns they made him laugh. It seemed to us that he almost repressed the pain. I would definitely say that laughter has helped while he has been here. William, aged 6.5, relaxes well in the company of the hooves at St. Olav’s hospital. Photo: Morten Waagø / news
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Laughter can reduce stress hormones and have positive effects in the treatment of illness – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
