Death from laughter

Chrysippus reportedly died of laughter.

Recorded cases of death from laughter date back to ancient Greece.

Pathophysiology

Death may result from several pathologies that deviate from benign laughter. Infarction of the pons and medulla oblongata in the brain may cause pathological laughter.^[1]

Laughter can cause atonia and collapse ("gelastic syncope"),^[2][3][4][5] which in turn can cause trauma. See also laughter-induced syncope, cataplexy, and Bezold-Jarisch reflex. Gelastic seizures can be due to focal lesions to the hypothalamus.^[6] Depending upon the size of the lesion, the emotional lability may be a sign of an acute condition, and not itself the cause of the fatality. Gelastic syncope has also been associated with the cerebellum.^[7]

Historical deaths attributed to laughter

• In the third century B.C., Chrysippus, the Greek stoic philosopher, died of laughter after giving his donkey wine, then seeing it attempt to feed on figs.^[8]
• In 1410, King Martin of Aragon died from a combination of indigestion and uncontrollable laughter.^[9]
• In 1556, Pietro Aretino "is said to have died of suffocation from laughing too much."^[10]
• In 1660, Thomas Urquhart, the Scottish aristocrat, polymath and first translator of Rabelais into English, is said to have died laughing upon hearing that Charles II had taken the throne.^[11][12]

Modern deaths attributed to laughter

• On 24 March 1975, Alex Mitchell, a 50-year-old bricklayer from King's Lynn, England, died laughing while watching the "Kung Fu Kapers" episode of The Goodies, featuring a kilt-clad Scotsman with his bagpipes battling a master of Lancastrian martial art "Ecky Thump", who was armed with a black pudding . After twenty-five minutes of continuous laughter, Mitchell finally slumped on the sofa and died from heart failure. His widow later sent The Goodies a letter thanking them for making Mitchell's final moments of life so pleasant.^{[13][14][15][16][17]}
• In 1989, Ole Bentzen, a Danish audiologist, died laughing while watching A Fish Called Wanda. His heart was estimated to have beaten at between 250 and 500 beats per minute, before he succumbed to cardiac arrest.^[18]
• In 2003, Damnoen Saen-um, a Thai ice cream salesman, is reported to have died while laughing in his sleep at the age of 52. His wife was unable to wake him, and he stopped breathing after two minutes of continuous laughter. He is believed to have died of either heart failure or asphyxiation.^[13]

Fictional deaths attributed to laughter

• Old Mr Dawes or Mr Dawes Senior, in Mary Poppins
• The "Killer Joke" sketch by Monty Python
• The Toon Patrol in Who Framed Roger Rabbit
• In the Give Yourself Goosebumps books by RL Stein, it is possibly to get an ending where chimpanzees tickle your feet until you die of laughter.

See also

• Kuru (disease), also known as "laughing sickness"
• Laughing gas
• Paradoxical laughter
• Tickle torture

References

1. ^ Gondim, FA; Parks BJ, Cruz-Flores S et al. (December 2001). ""Fou rire prodromique" as the presentation of pontine ischaemia secondary to vertebrobasilar stenosis". Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 71 (6): 802–804. doi:10.1136/jnnp.71.6.802. PMC 1737630. PMID 11723208. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1737630. 
2. ^ Reiss AL, Hoeft F, Tenforde AS, Chen W, Mobbs D, Mignot EJ (2008). "Anomalous hypothalamic responses to humor in cataplexy". PLoS ONE 3 (5): e2225. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002225. PMC 2377337. PMID 18493621. http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002225. 
3. ^ Nishida K, Hirota SK, Tokeshi J (2008). "Laugh syncope as a rare sub-type of the situational syncopes: a case report". J Med Case Reports 2 (1): 197. doi:10.1186/1752-1947-2-197. PMC 2440757. PMID 18538031. http://www.jmedicalcasereports.com/content/2/1/197. 
4. ^ Totah AR, Benbadis SR (January 2002). "Gelastic syncope mistaken for cataplexy". Sleep Med. 3 (1): 77–8. doi:10.1016/S1389-9457(01)00113-7. PMID 14592259. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1389945701001137. 
5. ^ Lo R, Cohen TJ (November 2007). "Laughter-induced syncope: no laughing matter". Am. J. Med. 120 (11): e5. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2006.07.019. PMID 17976409. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0002-9343(06)00898-9. 
6. ^ Cheung CS, Parrent AG, Burneo JG (December 2007). "Gelastic seizures: not always hypothalamic hamartoma". Epileptic Disord 9 (4): 453–8. doi:10.1684/epd.2007.0139. PMID 18077234. http://www.john-libbey-eurotext.fr/en/revues/medecine/epd/e-docs/00/04/37/CC/article.phtml. 
7. ^ Famularo G, Corsi FM, Minisola G, De Simone C, Nicotra GC (August 2007). "Cerebellar tumour presenting with pathological laughter and gelastic syncope". Eur. J. Neurol. 14 (8): 940–3. doi:10.1111/j.1468-1331.2007.01784.x. PMID 17662020. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/openurl?genre=article&sid=nlm:pubmed&issn=1351-5101&date=2007&volume=14&issue=8&spage=940. 
8. ^ Peter Bowler and Jonathan Green. What a Way to Go, Deaths with a Difference. ISBN 0-7537-0581-8. 
9. ^ Morris.pdf
10. ^ Waterfield, Gordon, ed. First Footsteps in East Africa, (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1966) pg. 59 footnote.
11. ^ Brown, Huntington (1968). Rabelais in English Literature. Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 0-714-620-513. 
12. ^ The History of Scottish Poetry. Edmonston & Douglas. 1861. p. 539. 
13. ^ ^{a b} "The Last Laugh's on Him". Urban Legends Reference Pages. 2007-01-19. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/laughing.asp. Retrieved 2007-06-23. 
14. ^ The Complete Goodies — Robert Ross, B T Batsford, London, 2000.
15. ^ Man Dies Laughing at The Goodies, "Daily Mail", London (29 March 1975)
16. ^ A Goodies Way to Go — Laughing, "Eastern Daily Press", Norwich (29 March 1975)
17. ^ Slapstick! The Illustrated Story of Knockabout Comedy — Tony Staveacre, Angus & Robinson 1987
18. ^ 9 People Who Died Laughing - Death - Book of Lists - Canongate Home (version archived by the Internet Archive)

External links

• Snopes.com article