Do you know that it is possible to die of laughter?

Its scientific name is Fatal hilarity , a complex term that scientifically demonstrates that yes, that it is possible to die from a convulsive laugh or loud laughter where the victims suffer a syncope with fatal results for the There are registered medical cases, cases in which people took the step beyond with a spectacular smile on their faces prey to the best of jokes, or the most funny situation of their lives.

Laughter: the spark of life...and death

You may remember one of the best sketches of the Monty Python .the famous British comedians devised a joke so incredibly funny in the middle of the Second World War, that they decided to use it as a deadly weapon.They translated it into German and simply began to bombard I heard the Nazis with those papers in which the joke appeared in question.the enemy fell fulminated.Death of laughter, of «fatal hilarity».

There is also another interesting historical fact.We realize that for example, the Greek painter Zeuxis, died after a fit of laughter after that an old woman asked her to represent her in one of her canvases as Aphrodite.That she take her as a model.The painter could not resist and drowned in his own syncope without being able to stop laughing.

But how can you kill us with a fit of laughter? Well, the fatal hilarity is basically due to some irreparable cardiovascular damage that depends a lot on our health in general.An uncontrolled laughter can, in turn, cause a syncope as a reflex response of the nerves to the increase in intrathoracic pressure, which go to compass of intense laughter.

If we also have respiratory problems, all this can lead to a collapse of the lungs, so everything depends on our state of health in general, our heart, our lungs , of our circulation...we must be careful.

But the reality is not this.Dying of a fit of laughter is fortuitous and punctual, but generally, laughter has great, great benefits for health.You may remember a lovely movie of the recently disappeared Robin Williams, titled «Patch Adams «.In it, we were shown the real life of a doctor who started a therapy in children sick with all the world based on laughter.It was, of course, the "laughter therapy" .And, as you know, the benefits of laughter are as broad as they are incredible:

“Genuine laughter” for 15 minutes manages to increase energy expenditure by 167.2 kJ (about 40 kilocalories).
Reduce obesity, burn fat, reduce cholesterol
Strengthens the immune system.
Reduces stress.
Improves our mood.
Strengthens our social relationships.

Image: Francois de Halleux

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