If we encounter something funny or see something happy, we often say, "I'm laughing to death." This is, of course, an exaggeration, at least I have never seen or heard the news of anyone dying of laughter. So does laughter really make people die?
Although we have not encountered people around us who died laughing, "laughing to death" really exists. Death by laughter is a rare cause of death, usually caused by cardiac arrest or asphyxia caused by a burst of laughter. Ancient Greece has recorded deaths laughing to modern times, and the nickname "fatal hilarity" was first used in 1956.
The reason for "laughing to death".
Sudden and persistent laughter can cause the lungs to breathe excessively, causing excess carbon dioxide to be excreted from the body and a rise in the body's plasma pH. When the pH value is greater than 7At 45, it will cause respiratory alkalosis, with symptoms of pale complexion and trembling all over the body, and in severe cases, it will cause difficulty breathing and even suffocation.
And if you have a serious heart condition, respiratory problem, or other serious health problem, laughing excessively and incessantly can make it worse. For patients with chronic cardiovascular diseases such as cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral thrombosis, myocardial infarction, and arteriosclerosis, it can also lead to vasoconstriction, which is life-threatening
Ancient "laughing punishment".
In the seventeenth century, there was a kind of torture called "laughing punishment" in Europe, that is, after the prisoner's hands and feet were bound, the soles of their feet were coated with honey and white sugar juice, and the goats were brought to make it happy to ** the paint on the soles of the prisoners' feet. Because the goat's tongue has barbs, ** people will feel very itchy. When the paint is clean, the executioner will immediately "refill the cup", causing the goat to lick it until the prisoner dies of laughter.
Records about "Laughing to Death".
1. Zeuxis, an ancient Greek painter in the 5th century BC, died laughing while painting a funny old woman.
2. Clecippus, the ancient Greek Stoic philosopher in the 3rd century B.C., one of his accounts of death is that when he saw a donkey eating figs, he ordered his slaves to give the donkey wine. After that, he died laughing.
3. Martin I, ruler of Aragon, who died in 1410 from indigestion and uncontrollable laughter.
4. The Renaissance Italian writer Pietro Arettino, who died of suffocation caused by laughter in 1556.
5. Thomas Urquhart, a Scottish writer and translator who died laughing in 1660 after hearing about Charles II's accession to the throne.
In the new century, there is a painting in France called "The Death of the Poet Arettino", the people in the painting are very relaxed, only one person fell to the ground, this person is named Arettino, unfortunately, he has died in the painting, because he was so happy that he suffocated to death.
7. Alex Mitchell of Kingsling, England, on March 24, 1975, in "Kung Fu Kapers", he saw a Scotsman with bagpipes duel with a Lancastrian master with a blood sausage. After that, he laughed incessantly and died of heart failure after laughing continuously for 25 minutes. His widow then sent a letter to the production team of Kung Fu Kapers to thank them for the joy they had given her husband before his death.
8. Danish audiologist Ole Bengtsen, who died of laughing in 1989 while ** "A Basket of Stupid Thieves". The coroner estimated that Bentson's heart was beating at a rate of 250 to 500 beats per minute before cardiac arrest.
In a rare case in the Journal of Neurosurgical Psychiatry, a 65-year-old man died after being paralyzed in his arm and his right half of the facial nerve after uncontrollable laughter.
10. Danneng Sean, a Thai ice cream salesman, died laughing in his sleep in 2003. At the time, his wife was unable to wake him up. Two minutes later, he stopped breathing. The cause of his death was most likely heart failure or asphyxiation.
Therefore, we must pay attention to our physical condition when laughing to avoid a very small probability. For the vast majority of healthy people, there is no need to worry too much, after all, the probability is really too low.