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Love to laugh? You’ll probably be fine, but there are rare instances where laughing is dangerous, according to a recent report.
The potential health consequences of a serious case of the giggles are no laughing matter, according to a new study.
Of course, laughter can be good for you, which is why it is said to be the best medicine. However, an overview of reports of chuckling-related risks and benefits found that, in rare cases, laughter can be dangerous.
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A 50-year-old woman with a preexisting heart condition actually died after a fit of intense laughter, researchers said. There have also been instances where cracking up has triggered asthma attacks and hernias.
The report, which was published in the BMJ, highlighted cases where laughter has caused people to accidently breathe in foreign objects or dislocate their jaws.
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But don’t fret — giggling also does the body good, researchers said. It can help alleviate stress and tension as well as lower you risk of heart attack.
“We infer that laughter in any form carries a low risk of harm and may be beneficial,” the authors wrote.
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In perhaps the best part of the report, the researchers note that a limitation of the study is that they only searched for forms of the word “laugh” and “did not explicitly seek cacchinations, cackles, chortles, chuckles, giggles, grins, guffaws, smiles, smirks, sneers, sniggers, teehees, or titters.”
