Stop Laughing and start living 

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away” and “Laughter is the best medicine” are two well known old proverbs, but is there any proof in their wisdom? 

The first printed mention of the first saying can be found in the February 1866 issue of the publication "Notes and Queries." The publication printed the proverb like this: "Eat an apple on going to bed, and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread." Nearly 150 years later, variations of this adage are still quoted. It's unlikely that the saying would have maintained such popularity if there wasn't some truth to it, right? 

Wrong!. All of the doctors that I know of today want more than just a slice of bread!  

While it is true that apples do contain Pectin, a soluble fibre that can lower blood pressure; Boron, a nutrient that promotes healthy bones; Quercetin, a flavonoid that may reduce free radical damage; Vitamin C, for overall health and Phytonutrients including vitamin A and E, I doubt that any medico, whether on a diet of bread or cake, will claim that diet alone will promote a healthy life. 

So if we strip the apples from the medicine chest, what about humour?  Do we still leave it there and take a daily dose? 

Perhaps it is not funny that there are no studies supporting this notion about humour. In contrast, the few studies that do exist show that people who are considered to be funny actually suffer more health problems and die at a younger age than their more serious associates. For example, one longitudinal study, the Terman life-cycle study, followed a large number of highly gifted individuals (average IQ of 151!) over many decades, and found that those who were rated as having a better sense of humour as children by their parents and teachers were more likely to suffer from many health problems later in life. They tended to smoke more and consume more alcohol as adults and also died at a younger age, as compared to those with less humour.   

These findings are consistent with previous research showing that individuals with a greater sense of humour tend to engage in less healthy lifestyle behaviours. For example, a longitudinal study among Finnish police officers found that higher scores on some sense of humour scales were associated with greater obesity, increased smoking, and greater risk factors for cardiovascular disease, compared with their peers with lower scores. 

A recent new  study  extends these findings to other entertainers and athletes. The study looked at a thousand obituaries published every day for three years in the New York Times. The researchers classified the various occupations of the people into different categories. Singers, actors, comedians and dancers were classified as “performers”, while writers, composers, painters and photographers were grouped under “non-performing creative workers”. There were also other classifications such as athletes, business people, politicians, academics and military personnel. 

The study included more men than women (813 vs. 186).  The average age of death for men was 80.35, compared with 78.8 of the women. This finding is interesting because women tend to live longer than men on average. However, there were no major differences in causes of death among men and women. 

The main findings were that performers died the youngest, at an average age of 77.1, followed by athletes with an average age of death of 77.2. Next were the non-performing creative workers with the average death age of 78.5. Academics died at an average age of 81.7, while politicians, business people and people with military careers had the longest life span, dying at ages 82.1, 83.3 and 84.7 respectively. In general, most young people had died from accidents or infections. Performers and creative people tended to die of cancer at higher rates than other famous people. 

With regard to the short life span of women, Gil Greengross in an article entitled “You Suck!” and “Show Me Your Jugs” claims that “there is no doubt that female comedians are a minority. How many male comedians exist for every female comedian? We do not have an answer to that since no official registry of comedians exists. Even if we did have something like a comedy guild, the answer might depend on who we count as a comedian”. 

Could it be that women are smarter than men?  They have stopped laughing and have gone on with the task of living. 

This is not something that I would normally express openly as some may call it sexist (or reverse sexism). My wife would say that this is what she has been saying for decades.  However on a recent holiday I observed a dozen fishermen, only one of whom was a woman.  Two hours later they were still all there, still pitting their wits (or lack thereof) against a few fish.  Any idea how many had been successful?  None. 

There is another proverb that goes something like “There is no such thing as a free lunch”.  Also wrong because those fish had enjoyed free breakfast, free lunch and free dinner. 

If you have a smile on your face, please wipe it off lest I be accused of being a comedian and we both come to an untimely end.