Can you die laughing? History knows such cases

The popular phrase “to die laughing” is not just a cliche – it has a grain of truth. In the article below, we answer whether it is possible to die laughing.

Laughter is health – that’s what one of the well-known and frequently used sayings says. Where did the idea come from that a positive experience that informs about well-being and good health of the body can lead to death? I am talking about an overly violent burst of laughter, which in some situations can be really lethal. History knows several cases in which one of the causes of death turned out to be laughter. However, can it become a direct cause of death?

Death caused by laughter – is it really possible?

Laughing, and even just being with a person who radiates a smile and positive energy, improves our mood and makes us feel more willing to live. Just laughing is not dangerous – it is the most desirable behavior that shows well-being and emphasizes internal states or emotions. The situation is quite different when someone laughs too hard and intensely. Several dangerous states can then occurwhich include:

1. an asthma attack;
2. swoon;
3. suffocation;
4. rupture of an aneurysm in the brain;
5. myocardial infarction.

Moreover, the situation in which violent laughter occurs is also important. For example, if it occurs while eating or drinking a drink, there is a high probability of choking, which can be fatal, if the person choking is not given first aid.

Further part below the video.

Too much laughing and your health

As bizarre as it sounds, death from laughter is really possible, although laughter is not its direct determinant. So this does not mean that we should avoid laughter – after all, laughter is needed for mental health and for expressing joy in life. However, it should be borne in mind that in some cases, such as when dealing with an aneurysm of the brain, one should be alert to any situations in which there is an increase in blood pressure. It can cause intracranial hemorrhage and, consequently, lead to death.

So we can see that a sudden burst of laughter can pose a certain danger, especially if we have health problems, such as with neurological, cardiological issues or diseases of the upper respiratory tract.

1. Editors recommend: Signs that death is just around the corner. 12 signals sent by the human body

Did someone die laughing?

History knows deaths caused by laughter. Most of them took place in Greece, and the victims of deathly laughter were mostly representatives of science and art. One of the confirmations of the thesis that you can die of laughter was the character of Philemon, who is considered to be the creator of comedy. The 97-year-old Greek reportedly died of laughing right after he told a joke that made him “to death” amused.

Another example is the figure of the fortuneteller Kalchas. The man met another bard who predicted that he would die, unable to taste the wine made by himself from grapes. The clairvoyant decided to bring about a confrontation in order to be able to undermine the vision of the other fortuneteller. Unfortunately, according to the history passed down from generation to generation, Kalchas, according to the vision he had known, did not have time to drink wine – the Greek laughed at this news so hard that after a while he could not catch his breath and suffocated.

There are many more proofs that you can die laughing. These include the stories of, among others Scottish aristocrat – Thomas Urquhart, Burmese sovereign Nanda Bayina, or the Greek painter Zeuxis. One of the most bizarre and at the same time unimaginable examples are events where victims of too much and prolonged laughter performed mundane activities, such as watching television or a theater play. An example of one of the frightening stories is the case of Mrs. Fitzherbert, a resident of England, who died laughing while watching the costume of the protagonist of “A mendicant’s opera”.

This may interest you:

1. This appearance was to herald imminent death. What is the “face of Hippocrates”?
2. Change to soap, squeaks and excretions. What happens to us after we die?
3. What does the transition from life to death look like? The doctor described such stories