Hunter Frances Gardner - Laugh Yourself Healthy

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Im convinced that laughter is absolutely the best medicine as it charges the immune system and triggers the relaxation response. In this stressful world where 75 to 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related complaints or disorders, I believe LaughYourself Healthy is a vital part of the healing process. Laughter stops stress in its tracks. Charles and Frances Hunter have put together a wonderful collection of humorous anecdotes to help brighten your day and your disposition. After all, a merry heart doeth good like medicine.

Don Colbert, MD
New York Times Best-selling Author of
The Seven Pillars of Health and the Bible Cure series

Charles and Frances are very special, longtime friends of mine. Through the years, they have always been so encouraging and full of the joy of the Lord. I know that as you read LaughYourself Healthy you will receive that joy and be strengthened and encouraged, experiencing Gods healing in every area of your life!

Joel Osteen
Senior Pastor, Lakewood Church
Houston, TX

Charles & Frances

HUNTER

Most STRANG COMMUNICATIONS BOOK GROUP products are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchase for sales promotions, premiums, fundraising, and educational needs. For details, write Strang Communications Book Group, 600 Rinehart Road, Lake Mary, Florida 32746, or telephone (407) 333-0600.

LAUGH YOURSELF HEALTHY by Charles and Frances Hunter
Published by Christian Life
A Strang Company
600 Rinehart Road
Lake Mary, Florida 32746
www.strangdirect.com

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Design Director: Bill Johnson; Cover design by Amanda Potter

Copyright 2008 by Charles and Frances Hunter
All rights reserved

Our very special thanks to Roger Wolfe, publisher of The Tulsa Morning Fax, from which most of these jokes were taken, for his permission to use them in this book.

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data:
Hunter, Charles, 1920
Laugh yourself healthy / Charles and Frances Hunter.
p. cm.
Previously pub.: Healing through humor. Lake Mary, Fla. : Creation House Press, c2003.
ISBN-13: 978-1-59979-349-8
ISBN-10: 1-59185-196-3
1. American wit and humor. I. Hunter, Frances Gardner, 1916- II. Title.

PN6165.H93 2008
818.602--dc22
2008014811
Previously published as Healing Through Humor by Creation House, copyright 2003, ISBN: 978-1-59185-196-7.

09 10 11 12 13 98765432
Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

by Francisco Contreras, MD

I REMEMBER THOROUGHLY ENJOYING Robin Williamss portrayal of the young Dr. Patch Adams, a physician who spends more time in clowns garb than a doctors gown. Patch Adams, the movie, brought to the worlds attention the importance of compassion, love, and humor in the treatment of patients. My soul resonated with the message that joy is vital to the recuperation of health.

I could relate to the theme profoundly because I had grown up in and around the Oasis of Hope Hospital, which my dad founded in 1963 with the mission of improving the quality of the physical, emotional, and spiritual lives of his patients. His total-care approach included ministering to the patients bodies with nutrition, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and physical therapy. It also involved nurturing the emotional and spiritual needs of his patients through counseling, music therapy, art therapy, prayer, hugs, and laughter. It came as no shock to me when my father pulled out his pen pal file full of the letters he had exchanged with the real Patch Adams since the early 1980s.

Dad and Patch are two birds of a feather. When I had the pleasure of spending time with Patch, I saw that holistic healing was no joking matter to him. He was dead serious. If you saw the movie and wondered if Patch is the same in real life, the answer isthe movie presented a tame version. The depth of Patchs knowledge and his commitment to humanity awed me. I was surprised to see that his doctors bag was full of different clown noses and teeth, which he allowed me to try on, causing us both to laugh.

My father is the only physician I have met who would arrive at the hospital toting a guitar and a joke book. His career spanned sixty years. He was recognized with the Alternative Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award, but his biggest reward was that each day he could build a meaningful, healing relationship with his patients. I believe that not only was the laughter with patients healing for them, but it was also the key to the longevity of his career. One clinical study indicated that both patient and physician benefit from sessions of laughter. I dont doubt that to be true.

I have often said that fear is the stronghold of cancer. Cancer is an opportunistic disease. Fear and other negative emotions are detrimental to the immune system. Depression and anxiety are open invitations for cancer to have its way with a patient. When we are able to help a person smile and laugh, I know that we increase the possibility of recovery markedly. One of my goals is to help patients get to a place where they can stare cancer right in the eyes and say, You cannot rob my joy. For me, laughter therapy is not a warm fuzzy activity that is a nice service to offer patients if time allows. It is an essential part of our treatment program.

Science has definitively confirmed the potent healing factor of laughter. Whether studies were conducted in Japan objective results indicate that patients who experience laughter receive a boost to their immune system as measured in the elevation of natural killer cell activity and immunoglobulin. There are so many objective clinical trials that support the healing power of humor that it surprises me that few doctors take advantage of this medication. I do realize that insurance companies probably do not reimburse doctors for telling jokes, but who cares? As physicians, we should be willing to do whatever it takes to improve the health of our patients.

This wonderful book, Laugh Yourself Healthy, is a great tool for doctors to use in laughter therapy sessions. As I mentioned, my father always brought a book of jokes with him to work. I think this book would have been one of his all-time favorites because it will keep any reader in stitches. I know that we are living in a time when everyone is panicked about medical claims and lawsuits, so I will make no claim about the healing power of this book. All I will say is that science confirms that positive emotions invoked by humor have healing effects. If you read this book and no positive emotions come about, you need to check if you have a pulse. This book is great, and I plan to prescribe it to my patients! Enjoy.

Francisco Contreras, MD
Surgical Oncologist
Author, The Coming Cancer Cure
Director, Oasis of Hope Hospital
www.oasisofhope.com

. K. Takahashi et al., The Elevation of Natural Killer Cell Activity Induced by Laughter in a Crossover Study, International Journal of Molecular Medicine 8, no. 6 (December 2001): 645650.