According to a paper presented at American College of Cardiology, laughter can be our passport to good healthy heart. The chief presenter of the paper Michael Miller, MD, director of the center for preventive cardiology and associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, had come to this conclusion after studying 300 participants, 150 healthy and 150 people suffering cardiac problems.

The researchers had used a questionnaire to find out about how much the participants use laughter to break away from everyday tensions. The researchers found out that the people who scored more than 50 on the scale are at a lower end of cardiac problems. On the other side, people who carry severe cardiac risks seem to be slow to laugh as well. These respondents seemed unable to find anything funny in most situations and did not laugh much. Even in the most positive situations, they are least likely to laugh their head off.

The researchers are of the opinion that such people may be more under stress, stress that can affect the protective coating of the blood vessels called endothelium. This reaction cause inflammations that may lead to build up of cholesterol in coronary arteries, heightening the chance of a heart attack.