Vin Diesel's family-friendly comedy, "The Pacifier," is not only good for Disney and the film makers' pocketbook (the movie, directed by Adam Shankman Bringing Down The House, A Walk to Remember, and The Wedding Planner grossed $30.6 million on its opening weekend); it's good for your heart, your kids' heart and everybody's soul. On Monday, U.S. researchers announced that a daily dose of laughter may be good for our hearts because, like exercise, it makes blood vessels work more efficiently.

Dr. Michael Miller, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, who published a preliminary study about the subject in 2000 said:

We thought laughter would be pretty much neutral, but it produced a pronounced effect.

We don't recommend that you laugh and not exercise, but we do recommend that you try to laugh on a regular basis.

Thirty minutes of exercise three times a week, and 15 minutes of laughter on a daily basis is probably good for the vascular system.

If you watch Vin Diesel go from Navy SEAL biceps and tattoos to Wolfe The Pacifier boobs and bottles you'll get at least your "daily dose of laughter" in one sitting, if not more.

On Monday, March 5th 2005, the Pacifier filmmakers laughed all the way to the bank, while Dr. Miller was busy presenting the results of his most recent work at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Orlando, Florida.

After their 2000 study, Miller and his colleagues decided to take a more direct approach to their earlier findings.

Their goal: to show how psychological factors can affect a person's health.

Instead of questionnaires, they used an ultrasonic device to measure the diameter of the brachial artery, a main blood vessel that runs from the shoulder to the elbow.

The researchers selected twenty healthy volunteers and tested the function of their blood vessels.

They asked 10 women and 10 men to watch 15-minute movie scenes that contained either stressful or funny material.

For the stressful scene, the team used the opening segment of Saving Private Ryan, which portrays a dramatic battle during the Second World War.

The two comedies presented were segments from Kingpin starring Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid and Bill Murray, or There's Something About Mary starring Cameron Diaz, Ben Stiller and Brett Favre.

Laughter Truly Is The Best Medicine: For The Heart Too

Dr. Miller and his colleagues at the University of Maryland believed that for good cardiovascular health, blood vessels should readily expand after being constricted.

Before and after showing the movie scenes, the scientists applied pressure to each volunteer's brachial artery and tested how quickly it bounced back to its normal shape.

In 19 of the 20 subjects, the comedy seemed to have a beneficial effect.

Overall, the blood vessel dilated 22% faster than normal after laughter, and 35% more slowly than normal following a stressful scene.

The researchers specifically looked at the endothelium, the lining of the vessels, and found that blood flow was reduced in 14 of the 20 volunteers after stressful movie clips.

Blood flowed more freely in 19 of the 20 volunteers when they laughed at humorous movie segments.

Average blood flow increased 22 percent during laughter, and decreased 35 percent during mental stress, they told the meeting.

Although the negative effect of stress was anticipated, laughter produced a bigger positive impact than expected.

Miller told his audience in Florida:

The endothelium is the first line in the development of atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, so, given the results of our study, it is conceivable that laughing may be important to maintain a healthy endothelium, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Laughter may be almost as helpful as exercise.

The magnitude of change we saw in the endothelium is similar to the benefit we might see with aerobic activity, but without the aches, pains and muscle tension associated with exercise.

Congratulations to funny filmmakers and cardiologists who inspire us to keep cracking up!

Sign me up for Vin Diesel's push-up class. Push ups for the biceps and push up the pecs.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "exercising your giggle" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King , Rugged Elegant Living publisher