Medicinal Value of Laughter Put to Test

VANCOUVER BC – (Nutbar Alley) The University of Western British Columbia released results today of a four month study testing the old adage that “laughter is the best medicine.”

A team of doctors partnered with comedians and political operatives to determine if laughter actually provided any kind benefit for people with a variety of medical conditions.

Patients with conditions ranging from the common cold to muscular dystrophy were separated into three groups.  The first was a “laughter group” which was regularly exposed to comedy routines.  The second was an “annoyance group” which was exposed to political advertisements and position statements from a variety of political candidates.  The third was a control group which experienced normal life without additional stimulation or torment and was given regular medication for their conditions.

Results, which will be published in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet, show that laughter is indeed not the best medicine.

Dr. Anwar Milaowie summarized the medicinal results.

“It seems clear that laughter has little to no actual medical benefit when compared to proper medication,” he said.  “Patients in the medication group showed dramatic improvement when compared to patients in the laughter or frustration group.  Results clearly showed that suitable medication provided the single largest benefit whereas laughter returned minimal benefit compared to annoyance.”

For example, patients with herpes suffered major outbreaks regardless of their level of laughter or time spent being annoyed.  All patients with heart disease showed improvement with medication, but laughter proved to be fatal in one case.  Medication also showed improvements for all patients with high blood pressure, but politics caused two patients to suffer serious brain damage through strokes.

The study also took into consideration aspects of mental heath.  These results were monitored by a psychiatric team from the University.

“It is without question that the laughter group had more fun in the study,” admitted Dr. Suzan Medelsom, lead psychiatrist.  “However they quickly lapsed into depression levels similar to the annoyance group when the laughter stopped and they realized they weren’t being treated for potentially fatal medical conditions.  Indeed many of the candidates lamented taking part in the study in the first place and showed signs of serious despair.”

The study conclusively puts an end to the idea that laughter can somehow trump conventional medicine as a form of treatment.

“Let’s face it,” concluded Dr. Milaowie. “Sickness is no laughing matter.”