A recent research study has found that watching Manzai comedy significantly lowered blood sugar levels in diabetic patients. The study was conducted by Mind-Heart and Gene Research Group, established last year by the Foundation for Advancement of International Science (based in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture). The representative of the research group and the chief of the foundation’s Bio-Laboratory, Dr. Kazuo Murakami, who is also a professor emeritus at the University of Tsukuba and a Yoboku of Norinohi Branch Church, answered the question about what motivated him to conduct the study by saying: “I thought when one lives a life that accords with the intent of God the Parent, which is to say, the Joyous Life, then the good genes would be switched on.” It has been said that it is rare to scientifically prove the hypothesis that “laughing is good for health.” The paper written by Dr. Murakami; Dr. Hitoshi Ishii, Chief of Diabetic Section, Tenri Ikoi-no-Ie Hospital; and others will soon be published in Diabetes Care, one of the major medical journals on diabetes in the United States.
The subjects were 21 diabetic patients (middle- and old-aged) living in and around Tsukuba City, and the study was conducted on January 11 and 12, 2003, with the cooperation of Yoshimoto Kogyo, a leading Japanese entertainment company. On both days, the subjects ate lunch at noon and measured their blood sugar levels two hours after their meals.
On 11th, the subjects listened to a stiff and formal lecture on the mechanisms of diabetes, which started one hour before the measurement of blood sugar levels. On 12th, the subjects watched Manzai comedy performed by comedians affiliated with Yoshimoto Kogyo prior to the measurement. The result showed that the difference in blood sugar levels before and after lunch on average was 123 mg/dl (mg per 100 ml) on the 11th compared to 77 mg/dl on the 12th. The variance between the two dates was 46 mg/dl, which represents a significant suppression of increase in blood sugar levels on the 12th. Based on the results, it seems certain that laughing had some effect on suppressing the increase in blood sugar levels.
Having spent nearly 40 years doing research in the biosciences, of which the latter half was devoted to the field of genetics, Dr. Murakami explained: “One role of genes is to pass on information from parents to children. Another role is to perform their functions in our bodies right at this moment. Blood sugar levels indicate the density of glucose in blood, the most significant source of energy for our bodies. Normally, when blood sugar levels rise after meals, switches of genes that help produce various glucoses get turned off while the switches of genes that are involved in using glucoses get turned on. When blood sugar levels decrease due to hunger, the switches of these genes will be reversed. It is believed that when our bodies become unable to control these switches, blood sugar levels increase beyond the normal range, which results in diabetes.
“Also, the switches of genes are turned ON/OFF by various stimuli, and I believe that the use of the mind can turn the switches. In Tenrikyo terms, what is the relationship between the Joyous Life and the genes? The Joyous Life implies a lively and exuberant use of mind. I believe that such a use of mind will turn on the switches of the good genes. The completion of a working draft of the human genome sequence in 2000 was said to be the most outstanding scientific achievement in the 20th century. However, there is something much more outstanding. I refer to the very fact that these genetic codes were written in the first place. It is God the Parent who wrote these genetic codes and the on-off mechanism is also the creation by God the Parent. I have been telling the general public about these marvelous workings of God the Parent by using the expression ‘something great.’ When one lives life that accords with the intent of God the Parent, then the switches of good genes get turned on. Conducting the scientific study on ‘laughing’ was a breakthrough toward proving this point to the general public.
“The cause of diabetes is still unknown. I hope that in addition to diet restrictions and exercise therapy, laughing will be added as a new treatment method. Not limiting myself to laughing, I would like to talk about the Joyous Life as one’s lifestyle which gives positive influences on one’s body from the perspective of genetics. Analyzing the relationship between mind-heart and genes as the theme of my lifework, I would like this to develop into one of the modern interpretations of the teachings.”
On an additional note, he will attempt to find out the genetic mechanisms that brought the result of this study through further detailed analysis of the subjects’ blood samples.