The Best Medicine
Theme of the Week: Humor, Happiness, and Joy
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health (Proverbs 15:30). Bonus Reading: Ephesians 4:29; 5:4
Proverbs 17:22 says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength," and contemporary research seems to underscore this truth.
Bob Hope made it to his 100th birthday, and so did George Burns. Coincidence? Maybe not, says Michael Irwin of UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. "Laughter releases endorphins—those 'feel good' hormones suspected of boosting immunity—and that might make you more resistant to disease."
"At the very least," Irwin adds, "laughter reduces stress hormones, which have a bad effect on immunity."
"If you're the strong, silent type, a good belly laugh now and then may be especially important. Doctors used to think hard-charging Type As were at heightened risk for heart disease," says David Katz, a preventive medicine specialist at Yale School of Public Health. "But we know now it's having a so-called Type D personality—someone who bottles up emotions—that really causes an increased risk of heart disease and possibly cancer," Katz says.
So, laugh! It's a prescription for healthy living.
—Sid Kirschheimer in AARP
My Response: Which of my acquaintances are fun to be around? Do others see me the same way?
Thought to Apply: Grace is the free, undeserved goodness and favor of God to mankind.—Matthew Henry
Adapted from AARP (5-6/07)
Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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You've promised the joy of living with you forever. Let me savor the joy of your presence now.
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