While a link between laughing and mental health benefits has been well established, there is a lack of research into how it could improve the lives of those with physical health conditions. Researchers at King’s College London are addressing this gap in understanding. Scientists believe that the respiratory effects of laughter have potential as a low-cost, scalable intervention which could be offered outside of hospitals and within communities.
One condition that could benefit from laughing is bronchiectasis, a chronic lung disease which impacts around 1 in every 200 people in the UK, impacting the airway’s ability to clear phlegm.
Current treatment for this condition involves antibiotics and clearing the phlegm through breathing exercises or using devices which send vibrations into the airways (tubes that transfer the air to our lungs). Laughing – whether spontaneously in response to a joke or intentional during sessions like laughter yoga – mimics these vibrations and exercises without the need for devices. It can also become a group intervention that promotes connection with others and improve quality of life.
Lead researcher Dr. Arietta Spinou, Senior Lecturer in Respiratory Physiotherapy, King’s College London, said: “Many people with lung conditions already know that laughing can trigger coughing, which helps to get rid of mucus in the airways. Clearing this mucus is important as it can build up and lead to infections. I wanted to understand the physiological mechanism behind the link between laughing, coughing and airway clearance.
“While research has investigated the reasons why we laugh, including to build social connections, there are few studies into the physiological effects of laughter in our respiratory system. A recent search we conducted, indicated that laughter could benefit some aspects of our cardiovascular health – by mimicking the body’s response to light exercise. I wanted to extend this to lung health specifically and our laboratory results in healthy adults are so far promising.”
Having already completed a review on the benefit of laughter for lung conditions, Dr Spinou is now leading a development and feasibility study involving patients, funded by Asthma+Lung UK. People with bronchiectasis take part in a six-week programme with 60-minute weekly sessions of laughter yoga and education twice a week. The sessions involve laughter exercises to force a laughter (called laughter yoga) and often involves real laugh (spontaneous).
The team will then work with the participants to establish what parts of the new intervention are feasible and incorporate patient feedback into a potential scaled up model of the programme that will assess effectiveness and specific benefits.
Dr. Erika Kennington, Head of Research and Innovation at Asthma + Lung UK, said: “Asthma + Lung UK are proud to have funded this excellent research, which aims to help people with bronchiectasis with to remove phlegm from their lungs with alternative methods to traditional ‘airway clearance techniques’, which we know are difficult, take time and are poorly followed. By testing and developing a new local, class-based approach to airway clearance, which includes laughter yoga exercises and exercises for breathing, this research has the potential to improve quality of life for people living with bronchiectasis. We hope that this leads to a ‘gold standard’ community approach that can be implemented and adopted widely to help the more than 210,000 people in the UK affected by bronchiectasis.
“This novel approach highlights the importance of research into new types of treatment. Yet we know current funding for lung health research is on life-support, despite lung conditions remaining the third biggest cause of death in the UK – this urgently needs to change.”
