No laughing matter for asthmatics

MORE than half of people with asthma have symptoms that are triggered by laughter, according to new study findings presented this week.

Laughter is “one more trigger in a long list of triggers” for asthma, study author Dr Stuart Garay of the New York University Medical Centre in New York said.

However, among people with symptoms brought on by laughter, nearly half said they could laugh attack-free when their asthma was under better control. To Dr Garay, this suggests that people who get asthma symptoms from laughing should consider tweaking their medicine to improve control of their condition.

Laughter-induced asthma “may be a sign that you need some adjustment in your medication,” Dr Garay said in an interview.

For their study, he and his colleagues asked 235 people with asthma if laughter affected their asthma. They found that 56% of people developed symptoms after laughing, most commonly cough and chest tightness. Most people said they experienced symptoms within two minutes of laughing, with many saying their symptoms kicked in almost immediately.

Two-thirds of study participants with laughter-induced asthma said that simply giggling could bring on their symptoms.

However, 47% of people with asthma brought on by laughter said that when their asthma was under good control, they could laugh all they want, and have no symptoms. He emphasised that no one should try to live his life without laughter to avoid an asthma attack.

“I want people to laugh,” he said.

He added that people with laughter-triggered asthma also were more likely to experience symptoms from exercise, suggesting that exercise and laughter may trigger symptoms for similar reasons.