Hyderabad: Everyone knows that the best medicine is laughing, but one man’s good laugh ended up landing him in the emergency room. A remarkable instance was recently presented by neurologist Dr. Sudhir Kumar on the social media site X (previously Twitter). His client, “Mr. Shyam” (real name altered), fainted after a laughing fit.
Mr Shyam was having a cup of tea and watching a comedy show when he burst out laughing. Sadly, the laughter got so loud that he knocked over his teacup, and then his whole body fell limp. He toppled over his chair and momentarily was unconscious. His daughter became concerned when she saw some uncontrollable hand motions.
Thank goodness, he got medical help right away. His ailment was identified by Dr. Kumar as laughter-induced syncope, an uncommon but genuine event.
Dr. Ather Pasha, Consultant-Internal Medicine, CARE Hospitals, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, concurred that while fainting from excessive laughing is exceedingly uncommon, it is definitely probable owing to the condition.
According to Dr. Pasha, it is brought on by an abrupt change in blood pressure and heart rate, which causes fainting. It frequently occurs in response to a stressful stimulus of some type. The hallmark of this incredibly unusual illness is excessive laughter-induced unconsciousness.
Similar to laughter-induced syncope, other forms of syncope include vasovagal, cardiac, situational, and neurologic syncope, he added.
According to Dr. Pasha, the symptoms of syncope include a brief loss of consciousness and a transient fainting, whereas the indicators that may precede syncope include tunnel vision, nausea, a fast heartbeat, perspiration, and unsteadiness when standing.
There is little research on certain risk factors linked to syncope brought on by laughing. Dr. Pasha did note that there is a suggestion that those who have a family history of palpitations, chest discomfort, or sudden death may be more susceptible to syncope and hence more likely to experience laughter-induced syncope. Preventative measures and patient education about the issue are used to treat this disease.
For syncope brought on by laughter, there is no special treatment. However, the main goal of management techniques is to stay away from situations that might set off syncope episodes, including loud laughing. This might entail changing one’s way of living, such avoiding amusing circumstances or activities, especially if syncope episodes have already happened.
-Raja Aditya
