Can Holiday Laughter Help Your Heart?

Heart disease – particularly heart attacks – often feels like it comes out of nowhere. But the truth is, reducing your risk is largely within your power. More than 90% of the risk of heart disease can be attributed to nine factors that are potentially modifiable.   

“Heart attacks are largely preventable. In an ideal world, people would stay ahead of all nine risk factors, but it's more realistic to take one and improve it,” says cardiologist Andrew Einstein, MD, PhD. Dr. Einstein is also a professor of medicine (in radiology) at CUIMC.  

So which factor should you choose to work on to lower your risk? There’s no wrong answer. But as we enter the holiday season we propose adding more happiness and laughter to your life. Studies say joy is good for your heart.   

Is there a link between positive emotions/activities and cardiovascular health? 

Yes. Being happy is connected to better eating (more fruit and vegetables), exercising, and other heart-healthy behaviors. Usually, being joyful is something that you control. Life is full of stressful events. Psychosocial stressors are associated with an increased risk of heart attack. Finding ways to get through them, accepting and moving on, is vital.  

Can joy and laughter help prevent heart disease? 

Yes. Just like regularly eating food that’s low or no sugar and saturated fats, avoiding tobacco, and being physically active, lowering stress helps keep the endothelium healthy. Studies show that joy, laughter, and other positive emotions can have a positive impact on endothelial function and overall cardiovascular health. 

How?  

Listening to music that evokes joy, watching comedies, and mirthful laughter: 

• Trigger the release of nitric oxide, which helps relax blood vessel walls, improving blood flow  
• Reduce stress hormones like cortisol: High levels of stress can negatively impact endothelial function 
• Lower arterial inflammation: chronic inflammation contributes to endothelial dysfunction 
• Increase good cholesterol (HDL) in the blood 
• Improve mood, which positively guides lifestyle choices and behavior, like eating well and getting enough sleep.

Should joy and laughter be as much a part of a heart health routine as healthy eating, exercising, and no smoking? 

Yes. Engaging in activities that bring joy and laughter to your day can improve cardiovascular health, especially when combined with other healthy habits.  

This does not mean that you should sit down and put on the television. It means choosing TV shows, movies, music, and other activities that will make you laugh, or at least smile, over those that elicit negative reactions or emotions (fighting, screaming, violence, intense, and so forth).  

Find one thing that you can do. Find joy. Find joy in your music, in your reading and television, in your healthy food. 

What do you wish everyone knew about cardiovascular health? 

There's a tremendous potential decrease in the risk of coronary artery disease simply by being careful and modifying risk factors.   

What do we need to do to stay ahead of heart attack risks?  

Help people manage these nine risk factors. We have groups of healthcare professionals at Columbia who spend all their time working and looking at this. We have the hypertension center, which looks at blood pressure. We have the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center. The more support people have, the more this is possible.  

Trying to do all nine things can feel like too much. Do what you can. Every healthy change will help your heart and can lower other risks, too, like cancer. Start with one.