Is it possible to die from laughing so much? Science answers!

As the saying goes, laughter is the best medicine for living happily; This should be taken seriously, as some medical experts point out that laughter has the potential to reduce the risk of heart attack, hypertension, anxiety, stroke, among other benefits. A good laugh also releases serotonin, the hormone responsible for happiness, and reduces symptoms associated with depression.

In some cases, a bad joke can cause a feeling of disrespect and even make someone cry; It’s no surprise that the boundaries of comedy have long been a subject of debate. Sometimes the joke is so funny that people often say they could ‘cry laughing’ or even ‘die laughing’. So is it really possible for someone to die after excessive laughter?

According to some doctors and experts, it is unlikely that a person will die after laughing uncontrollably, but it is not that uncommon for some people to get sick during a joke session.

Some people may feel short of breath after smiling ‘hopelessly’, while others often experience dizziness and headaches. But the truth is that there is a real possibility of death from laughter.

“When you laugh, you move your chest up and down, which changes the pressure in the chest cavity. [tórax] and it can affect something called the vagus nerve. This may cause you to feel dizzy, [ou] D., chief of cardiology and director of medical device innovation at the New York Institute of Technology. “Even — very, very, very rarely — fainting, especially when it’s very exaggerated,” Todd Cohen told the website. Live Science.

We gathered information from doctors and experts in the field to dig a little deeper into the subject and find out whether the phrase ‘dying laughing’ is actually a real possibility.

Is it possible to die laughing?

In 1975, Alex Mitchell died after spending half an hour laughing while watching an episode of the British comedy series The Goodies. Available information indicates that the cause of death was a heart attack following intense laughter.

The family believes the man suffered from Long QT Syndrome, which affects his heart rhythm and was also detected in another person in the family.

Cases of people dying from laughing too much:

• As some reports explain, in 1556 Italian writer and playwright Pietro Aretino died of laughter after his sister told him a joke;
• Another case in 1893 suggests that Wesley Parsons died after spending two hours laughing non-stop with friends; First he started crying, and after a while he died of exhaustion;
• In a more recent case, in 2013, a man named Mangesh Bhogal laughed obsessively and suffered a stroke after watching a comedy movie.

“Although cases of death from laughter due to suffocation or cardiac arrest have been reported, this condition remains a possible cause of death for healthy individuals,” said UCLA Health cardiologist and assistant clinical professor of medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. Doctor Megan Kamath.

Problems caused by laughing

In 1997, a 62-year-old man with heart problems and high blood pressure fainted several times after watching an episode of Seinfeld. In fact, the disease was called ‘Seinfeld syncope’ due to the incident. But contrary to the statement, he did not die laughing.

Cardiologist Dr. Todd Cohen states that this occurs in rare cases; When smiling, the chest area moves up and down and can affect the nerve that carries signals between the brain and most internal organs. This can result in simple dizziness or, in more intense situations, fainting, as in the case of the man watching Seinfeld.

To explain it more simply; Laughter-induced syncope causes blood pressure to drop rapidly and reduces blood flow to the brain, which has the potential to cause dizziness and fainting.

There is also the possibility that laughing can affect the air supply to the heart, lungs, and brain, causing an increase in respiratory rate. Additionally, the act of laughing can cause suffocation or laryngospasm because the person does not get enough oxygen between laughs.

Anyway, Most doctors say a laugh is unlikely to cause death. Most of the time, people may experience mild symptoms such as those mentioned in the text.

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