Some believe that laughter is the best remedy for getting rid of worries, but a new study conducted in Turkey has shown that laughter is also the best treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as it helps patients suffering from this condition breathe better.
اضافة اعلان
The study, conducted by a research team from the Nursing Faculty at Turkey's Hacettepe University, revealed that laughter therapy combined with pursed-lip breathing exercises significantly helps relieve breathing difficulties in COPD patients. Researcher Cangül Aldan a nurse, university lecturer, and one of the contributors to the study stated that the experiment showed that the effect of laughter therapy lasts for up to a month after the treatment program ends, according to Agence France-Presse.
Aldan added, in remarks carried by the medical research website "HealthDay," that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is considered a serious lung disease that causes difficulty breathing, affects millions of people worldwide, and can lead to disability and death. She noted that COPD patients often experience shortness of breath and find it difficult to carry out daily life activities, which reduces their quality of life and increases their need for care from others.
As part of the study, whose findings were presented at the European Respiratory Society conference in Barcelona, Spain, volunteers were asked to deliberately laugh as a form of breathing exercise. The exercise involved rhythmic clapping combined with vocal sounds, such as imitating the sound of a motorcycle, which made participants laugh spontaneously and without forcing it.
During the trial, volunteers were divided into three groups: the first group underwent laughter therapy, the second group did pursed-lip breathing exercises, while the third group received no breathing training at all. The therapeutic training sessions for the volunteers continued over eight weeks, with three thirty-minute sessions held weekly.
The results showed that both laughter therapy and breathing exercises did indeed help patients breathe better. Researchers say that breathing exercises help patients feel a sense of control over their breathing process, and that laughter therapy has the same effect, in addition to other benefits for COPD patients.
Resource: Al-Ghad.
