Indeed breast milk is the elixir of life. It is a perfect source of nutrition for infants as it contains the nutrients, digestive enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and hormones, which infants must take, at least till a certain age. Besides these vital advantages now it has also been proved that mother’s laughter can make breast milk a safeguard against skin allergies and related infections. As a matter of fact, new mothers can draw ample laugh from the fun and frolic of their little ones.
According to the study that was led by Hajime Kimata at the Moriguchi-Keijinkai Hospital in Osaka, Japan breastfed babies with eczema showed fewer symptoms if their mothers laughed hours before feeding them.
Hajime Kimata showed the breastfeeding mothers funny Charlie Chaplin movies or bland footage of weather information. All the participant mothers and babies were suffering from mild atopic eczema. He kept taking breast samples at regular intervals afterwards. After taking two feeds he also measured the babies’ allergic reactions to dust mites and latex. The babies whose mothers laughed showed reduced reactions for eczema.
A higher level of melatonin was also found in the breast milk of the laughing mothers. Also melatonin hormone is associated with relaxation and its level was reduced in people with eczema.
Michael Miller of the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore said:
It would be good to investigate if 15 minutes of laughter a day can reduce allergies in mothers and infants in the long term.
Miller is also working on a study to know the effects of laughter on heart disease.
[Source: parenting blog]
