Studied intervention
Laughter is a natural burst of voice and breathing that works the diaphragm and face muscles and is tied to the body's stress responses. People mostly look at it for mood during breast cancer, where the evidence is strong: depression symptoms eased among 304 people and anxiety symptoms eased among 128. Those results come only from people with breast cancer, so they may not apply elsewhere.
- Updated
- How we grade
- 1 study cited
Laughter is not a dietary supplement. This page summarizes research on laughter as an intervention studied in clinical trials. Evidence grades reflect study quality, not a recommendation.
- Best evidence
- Grade A
- Conditions studied
- 5
- Outcomes
- 15
- Graded outcomes
- 6000
Evidence by condition
- Strong
- Moderate
- Limited
- Very limited
| Grade | Outcome | Effect | Size | Studies | People | Studies list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anxiety Symptoms Large Improvement | Improves (the measure goes down) | Large effect | 128 people | |||
| Depression Symptoms Large Improvement | Improves (the measure goes down) | Large effect | 304 people | |||
| Stress Signs and Symptoms | Improves (the measure goes down) | 1 study | 177 people | |||
Studies that measured stress signs and symptoms | ||||||
| Grade | Outcome | Effect | Size | Studies | People | Studies list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anxiety Symptoms Large Improvement | Improves (the measure goes down) | Large effect | 128 people | |||
| Stress Signs and Symptoms | Improves (the measure goes down) | 1 study | 177 people | |||
Studies that measured stress signs and symptoms | ||||||
| Depression Symptoms | Improves (the measure goes down) | 304 people | ||||
Lung Cancer
- Anxiety Symptoms: improves
- Stress Signs and Symptoms: improves
- Depression Symptoms: improves
| Grade | Outcome | Effect | Size | Studies | People | Studies list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anxiety Symptoms Large Improvement | Improves (the measure goes down) | Large effect | 128 people | |||
| Stress Signs and Symptoms | Improves (the measure goes down) | 1 study | 177 people | |||
Studies that measured stress signs and symptoms | ||||||
| Depression Symptoms | Improves (the measure goes down) | 304 people | ||||
Gastrointestinal Cancer
- Anxiety Symptoms: improves
- Stress Signs and Symptoms: improves
- Depression Symptoms: improves
| Grade | Outcome | Effect | Size | Studies | People | Studies list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anxiety Symptoms Large Improvement | Improves (the measure goes down) | Large effect | 128 people | |||
| Stress Signs and Symptoms | Improves (the measure goes down) | 1 study | 177 people | |||
Studies that measured stress signs and symptoms | ||||||
| Depression Symptoms | Improves (the measure goes down) | 304 people | ||||
Key findings
- Anxiety SymptomsImproves (the measure goes down)
- Depression SymptomsImproves (the measure goes down)
Shop the evidence-backed picks
Third-party tested Laughter products, in the forms the graded studies used where we can match them.
- Grade A
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Studies cited
1 study from PubMed