By Dr. Scott Bloomberg and Dr. Luke Bloomberg
Bloomberg Chiropractic Center
As the evenings grow cooler, imagine sitting around the table with family, telling a story everyone remembers—and laughing at the part that never gets old. We usually think about food, vitamins, and sleep when we think about immune health. But our emotional experiences and relationships also deserve attention. A shared story will not keep every virus away. Yet research suggests that stories and laughter can affect the body’s stress response, which has connections to immune function.
What a story can do
In a 2021 study, researchers randomly assigned 81 children in intensive care to a storytelling session or a session involving riddles. Both groups received personal attention. Compared with the riddle group, children who heard stories showed larger reductions in salivary cortisol and reported pain, along with larger increases in salivary oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone involved in social bonding, among other functions. These findings suggest that listening to a story can produce measurable changes in a stressful setting. The study did not show that storytelling prevented infections, and it measured the children listening rather than the people telling the stories. But it gives us an interesting reason to take a familiar act of care seriously.
Laughter changes more than your mood
A 2023 review combined eight studies involving 315 adults. Laughter-producing activities, including watching comedy, were associated with greater reductions in cortisol than control activities. The studies were small and used different approaches. Still, they support the idea that laughter can influence stress physiology. Cortisol is not a bad hormone. We need it for normal metabolism and immune regulation. The goal is a healthy stress response that rises when needed and settles afterward.
Where immunity enters the story
In a separate study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers assessed stress in healthy adults, exposed them to respiratory viruses, and monitored them for confirmed infections. People reporting higher stress were more likely to develop clinical colds. That association remained after researchers accounted for several other health and lifestyle factors. Putting these findings together suggests a plausible connection: enjoyable stories and laughter may help ease stress, and stress can influence susceptibility to illness. That is a reasonable explanation to explore. It is not proof that sharing jokes or stories prevents a cold.
Make room for everyday connection
You do not need to be a comedian or a gifted storyteller. Ask a parent about a childhood adventure. Tell your grandchildren about a funny mistake you made at their age. Share a favorite memory over dinner. Watch something that makes you laugh. Choose moments that feel comfortable and enjoyable. Nobody needs pressure to “stay positive” when life is hard.
As fall brings more time indoors, make room for the people and experiences that help you unwind. Keep nourishing meals, sleep, movement, and appropriate preventive care in the plan, too. A good story offers more than entertainment. It can make a difficult day feel lighter—and remind us that caring for our health includes caring for our connections.
For help with your wellness plan, contact Dr. Scott Bloomberg and Dr. Luke Bloomberg at Bloomberg Chiropractic Center, 618-783-2424, or visit drbloomberg.com.
References
Brockington and colleagues, 2021. Storytelling increases oxytocin and positive emotions and decreases cortisol and pain in hospitalized children.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34031240/
Kramer and Leitao, 2023. Laughter as medicine: A systematic review and meta-analysis of interventional studies evaluating the impact of spontaneous laughter on cortisol levels.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0286260
Cohen and colleagues, 1991. Psychological stress and susceptibility to the common cold.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1713648/
