Laughter is Good for the Heart 

　　Laughter is good for the heart because it prolongs life while depression increases the risk of an early death, according to two new studies. 

　　A good bout¹ of laughter every day provides similar cardiovascular benefits as exercise because it stimulates³ the blood flow, said Michael Miller⁴, who headed one research team at the University of Maryland. 

　　On the other hand, depression -- or the lack of laughter -- is often linked to unhealthy habits such as smoking and drug addiction⁵ and increases the risk of death by 44 percent, said Wein Jiang, who led a study of 1,000 heart patients for the University of North Carolina. 

　　Miller said laughter produced a "magnitude of change ... in the endothelium ... similar to the benefit we might see with aerobic⁶ activity, but without the aches, pains and muscle tension associated with exercise" 

　　While laughter should not replace exercise, he said, "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 vascular² system." 

　　参考译文：

　　美国科学家的两项最新研究结果显示，笑能使人精神愉悦，同时还对心脏大有好处；相反，心情沮丧则不利于身体健康，甚至会增加早死的危险。
 
　　其中一项研究的负责人、美国马里兰大学的迈克尔·米勒表示，笑给心血管带来的好处就像锻炼可以给心血管带来好处一样，因为笑可以促使血液流通。而北卡罗莱纳大学的另一项研究则表明，心情沮丧或缺少笑容却常常与诸如抽烟、吸毒等不健康的生活习惯联系在一起，同时还会将死亡的危险增加44％。 

　　对此，米勒表示，笑会在心内膜内引起某种变化，其效果和做有氧运动时差不多，但笑可以使我们远离由运动带来的伤痛和肌肉紧张等不良影响。 

　　但他同时也表示，笑也不可能取代体育锻炼，两者应该有规律地同时进行。他说：“我们建议人们一周进行3次体育锻炼，每次30分钟；另外，每天要笑15分钟，这样会对人们的脉管体统大有裨益。”

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