Laughter facts

Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Indiana, has compiled some fascinating facts:

Studies have pinpointed 18 different kinds of smiles. The most common is the smile of enjoyment

13 muscles are used to smile, but 47 are required for frowning. You have to smile nearly a quarter of a million times to make 1 wrinkle.

Laughter lowers the levels of cortisol in the body. Cortisol suppresses the immune system. Lowering these levels enhances the work of the immune system and may prevent disease.

You can stimulate your heart and lungs, elevate your blood pressure and improve breathing capacity by laughing.

In terms of exercise, you can get the same benefits from laughing 100 times a day, as you can from 10 minutes of rowing.

Charles Darwin believed that one's facial expression can actually influence one's moods. Studies in bio-feedback confirm Darwin's belief.

15 minutes of laughter equals the benefit of 2 hours sleep.

One good belly laugh burns off 3 1/2 calories.

Laughing for 15 seconds adds 2 days to your life span.

The Chinese laugh more than any other culture in the world:

• they work hard
• they play hard
• and they laugh hard

According to study by Dr. Michael Titze, a German Psychologist, in the 50's people use to laugh an average of 18 minutes a day. Today, that's down to 4 - 6 minutes a day.

Dr. Lee Burk of Loma Linda University, California study showed that laughter causes endorphin release, similar to the 'high' joggers get when jogging.

Dr. Michael Miller from the University of Maryland found that laughter can improve circulatory and cardiovascular health.

An Irish study showed that laughter causes a rise in blood pressure. Other studies showed that blood pressure drops for a time when we stop laughing, which is much like aerobic exercise.

A Vanderbilt University study found that laughter burns a bit more than one calorie a minute.

University of Chicago studies show a great sense of humor can add 8 years to your life.

Stanford University studies show a good belly laugh can give you health boosting benefits equal to 10 minutes on a rowing machine.

People smile only 35% as much as they think they do.

Laughter releases endorphins into the body with the same exhilarating effect as doing strenuous exercise.

Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, AT&T, Lockheed Aircraft, Kodak, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Southwest Airlines, Bank of America, and many others have adopted 'humor' into their workplaces as a tool to increase morale and improve the bottom line.