Humour and Health - Medical Clowns....for Real

I wrote about this 'phenomenon' in a blog back in 2008: Laughter as therapeutic medicine! There was a hospital down in Mexico that was implementing laughter therapy and was seeing tremendous results. Unfortunately that clip of the work they were doing is no longer available.

In any case, I'm delighted to see that Toronto will be host to a medical clown conference. Who knew it was such big business? See The Star's article for more info. It's great that laughter therapy/medicine has made its way to Sick Kids. I would like to see it implemented in palliative care settings as well as seniors homes and oncology wards. This would be money well spent.

Ask yourself this, are you having fun in life? Are you enjoying life? You'd be surprised how many people respond 'no' or 'not sure'. Usually, I just pause and repeat "So you're NOT SURE if you're enjoying life?"

[SILENCE]

It's like a light bulb turning on. Some patients make changes and others will rationalize or make excuses. The truth is, if you want to see change in your life, you NEED to make a concerted effort to change this status quo. Whether your goal is to lose weight or to be happier, it takes effort. Sometimes it takes a lot of planning and other times you may require the help of a coach or third party than can be objective and truthful with you.

I leave you with this quote from the Bible "A cheerful heart is good medicine."

Whether you're religious or not, I think we can all agree that's some good advice!

Yours in health,

Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"

Laughter Therapy: Emulating Patch Adams

First off, if you haven't watched the movie Patch Adams, go out and rent it. To me, it is the best example of what a health care provider should be!!! He shows us the importance of treating the person as opposed to the disease. He brings laughter and joy to people's lives and he really listens to the patient.

Some quotable lines from the movie that I appreciate as a naturopathic doctor:

"Difference between a doctor and a scientist? If you want to become a doctor, you have to learn to treat the patient as well as the disease."

"You treat a disease.... you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you win, no matter what the outcome.""

"Why are patients referred to by their disease rather than their first name."

Here is a clip of one Mexican hospital that's emulating the work of Patch Adams: Clip