Fighting Cancer with Laughter

A good chuckle may be a weapon in the fight against cancer.

by Holly Ames/Medstar TV

Published: Fri, August 24, 2007 - 2:15 pm CST Last Updated: Fri, August 24, 2007 - 2:56 pm CST

Registered nurse Gerri Delmont has a serious job. She’s a laughter leader in a cancer hospital. “Every one of our facilities has a laughter leader and we provide this service on a weekly basis for whoever is there at the time.”

Along with state of the art cancer treatment, patients get a dose of the giggles. Laughter releases endorphins, the body’s ‘feel good’ hormones. It also provides a good physical workout. Delmont explains how it works, “You’re stimulating the internal organs because your muscles are moving in and out. You’re breathing, opening up the lung passage ways. You’ve got the circulation going.”

J.J. Santoro admits he was skeptical at first. But, after therapy, he could barely get through our interview because he was laughing so much.

Therapy veterans say laughter helps them cope. Patient Joan Kruythoff agrees, “This wasn’t my first session, so I’ve done it before and it was very helpful not only with the cancer but also through, for the pain management it helped.”

Gerri Delmont says laughter is truly a medicine. “You’re actually giving yourself a shot, a good shot of good health when you do laughter therapy.”

Some studies suggest laughter stimulates positive changes in the body and increases a sense of well-being. One study suggests humor can increase tolerance to pain.

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durkac Says:

Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 2:57 pm

Therapeutic Laughter help is available in Mobile, Alabama for those wanting to deal with stress or disease, through a program offered by hospital chaplain Steve Durkac (http://www.stevedurkac.com).