A laughing matter

Several years ago, I lost a dear friend to a brain tumor. He barely
made it through a year after his diagnosis. That year, we laughed
almost as much as we cried -- if not more so.

When we applied a pack of frozen peas to his head to reduce his
swelling, he would make a joke about holding up dinner. And even
though he was an avid athlete, he often found ways to see humor in
his declining physical abilities, instead of submitting to self-pity
and depression as many of us might. Our ability to laugh together
enabled his friends and family to remain close to him as his disease
progressed, relieved his fear and ours of his impending death, and
gave us a way to celebrate the time we had left together.

But he didn't just focus on us -- he applied the same approach to
his interactions with his doctors. As a young physician himself,
many of his doctors were also colleagues, so he knew his case was
particularly painful for them. But it was incredibly important to my
friend that they be able to provide him with the best care despite
their grief.

So he kept them laughing. By infusing lightness into just about
every situation -- even the most painful ones -- everyone involved,
including my friend, managed to make it through the incredibly
challenging and emotional transition from life to death. And
although he ultimately lost his battle with cancer, I believe he lived
out his final days to the fullest and enjoyed them as much as
possible, which, in a sense, is a victory in and of itself.

From both sides of the fence, as doctor and as patient, my friend
instinctively knew what researchers are only beginning to prove:
laughter heals.

Improved immune function, increased pain tolerance, and
decreased stress response have all been associated with therapies
that incorporate humor and laughter to some degree. People who
laugh a lot have been shown to have lower blood pressure. A good
belly laugh around mealtime increases the blood flow to the
stomach and improves digestion. In general, 20 minutes of laughter
is the equivalent of a short aerobic workout.

Doctor-patient relationships also appear to improve when the two
can share humor or laughter together. It reduces stress about the
subject at hand, and promotes a feeling of intimacy. Patients will
often open up and reveal more to a doctor who doesn't feel distant
and intimidating, and providing more information can be the key to
receiving better care.

Of course, humor should be appropriate and tasteful to be
effective. If your physician's attempts at humor are offensive to
you, or you feel that he or she is taking your care too lightly, it's
probably not a good fit. But patients who can find the humor in
what is often a difficult or painful situation and share that humor
with their loved ones and health care professionals will often feel
better -- physically, emotionally, or both.

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A stinging solution for MS?

Q: There was something in one of last month's e-Tips about bee
stings being a remedy for MS. That sounds a little far out to me,
but I have a dear friend who has just been diagnosed, and I think
she would be interested in learning about anything that might help.
Should I mention this to her, or would I just be inviting false hope?

JVW: There are some real challenges and concerns about bee
venom therapy, particularly as there is an underground of patients
who are routinely practicing self-stinging to get relief. The high
incidence of allergic reaction, including anaphylaxis, makes this
particularly dangerous. The inability to control dosage also makes
it clinically difficult to track and predict the effectiveness of the
treatment. Many MS patients are passionate about their results,
however, and it is clearly gaining more and more notice as a
possible treatment option.

If you'd like to learn more about the topic, and gather some
specific research to give to your friend, visit the following "Bee
Venom Therapy References" webpage:
http://www.corp.direct.ca/beevenom/bvtReferences.htm. This
information might be helpful when approaching a physician with
this idea as well.

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What is…the Gesundheit Institute?

Hunter "Patch" Adams, M.D., the physician who inspired the
movie "Patch Adams" starring Robin Williams, founded the
Gesundheit Institute as a free health care facility. After 12 years of
successful operation, he and his team of practitioners, which has
grown to include numerous natural medicine alternatives such as
chiropractic, herbal medicine, acupuncture, and naturopathy,
decided to apply their ideal model to a hospital setting. They are
currently in the process of raising the necessary funding to carry
out this vision.

In addition to his dedication to providing medical care for free, he
also advocates using humor and creating lighthearted, yet intimate,
relationships between doctor and patient. In fact, Adams has been
known to wear a red rubber "clown" nose for days at a time during
office hours to lighten the mood in his practice and to help instill a
warm, friendly atmosphere for his patients.

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