Shara Rendell-Smock has written more than twenty computer software manuals, numerous newspaper articles, including a monthly health column for The Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

She's the author of two books of non-fiction: Getting Hooked: Fiction's Opening Sentences 1950's- 1990's
and
Living With Big Cats: The Story of Jungle Larry, Safari Jane, and David Tetzlaff
For ordering information, click here.

To read more about these books, participate in an ongoing joke contest, surf on over to
www.rendell-smock.com .
The author currently lives on Florida's Space Coast.

Shara has recently signed with a New York Literary agency.

Humour and Health

But that's not all. While experts argue over the 'medicinal' value of "laughter", there is little doubt in the minds of some that humour plays an integral role in the ability to cope with difficult situations.

"Nurses, physicians, and other health care professionals cope daily with the reality and horror of illness, suffering, and death. If we are unable to cope effectively with this, we experience "burnout" which is more accurately called 'compassion fatigue'", says Wooten.

She believes that laughter "provides us with a momentary release from the intensity of what otherwise might be overwhelming." This goes hand in hand with the old folk saying 'Might as well laugh as cry'. Some of us automatically use humor to gain a new perspective and to find a way to function in a situation that could otherwise be intolerable." [Editor's Note: Which might explain why NBC's "Saturday Night Live" is still on the air after years of being intolerably unfunny. :-) ]

Wooten also believes that in allowing one's self to to laugh about an overwise dreadful situation, we can accept our inadequacies and 'forgive ourselves'. In her words, "It (laughter) allows us to rise above our difficulties and experience the beauty of life beyond the hardships of giving care. We transcend our everyday problems and feel optimistic and hopeful. Searching for humor, looking for something to laugh about, keeps us from focusing on the elements that are overwhelming or depressing."

Wooten also has her own elaborate definition of laughter:

"Laughter is a smile that engages the entire body. At first, the corners of the mouth turn up slightly, then the muscles around your eyes engage and we can see a twinkling in the eyes. Next you begin to make noises, ranging from controlled snickers, escaped chortles, and spontaneous giggles, to ridiculous cackles, noisy hoots, and uproarious guffaws. Your chest and abdominal muscles become activated. As the noises get louder, you begin to bend your body back and forth, sometimes slapping your knees, stomping your feet on the floor or perhaps elbowing another person nearby. As laughter reaches its peak, tears flow freely. All of this continues until you feel so weak and exhausted that you must sit down or fall down."

Clearly, Patty Wooten is a woman who appreciates a good joke.

Measuring the effects of laughter, Wooten says that researchers can "qualify the importance of humor and laughter in the health care setting, either as an adjunct therapeutic tool for patients or as a self-care tool to offset the harmful effects of job stress."

She sums up, "Stress or negative emotion has been associated with immunosuppression. It has been suggested that the pleasant feelings occurring with mirthful laughter can modify some of the neuroendocrine components of the stress response. Natural killer cells are responsible for the early recognition and removal of virus and tumor cells."

So, in the end, it appears it's not a matter of one laughing one's self to death (as in that famous Monty Python skit about the Joke that Killed), but rather of your ability to laugh yourself back to Health. Next time you're sick, try skipping the aspirin - rent a comedy.

This week's healthy humor pick:

Patty Wooten's site, Jest for the Health of It (tm):

Next Week:

My Achin' Back!

Issue # 13
Tuesday, Jan. 27, 1998

Osteoporosis

Stats indicate that for those over the age of 50, one of every two women and one in eight men will have an osteoporosis-related fracture. Our sedentary lifestyle puts us at risk for this disease. Yet osteoporosis is not inevitable. Here's some information on this disease and how we can prevent it.