NYITCOM Cardiologist Interviewed
Cardiologist Todd Cohen, M.D., professor, chief of cardiology, and director of medical device innovation at NYITCOM, was interviewed for the article, 鈥淐an You Die from Laughter?鈥� As Cohen discusses, in rare cases, an especially hearty chuckle can cause something called laughter-induced syncope, a condition that causes a person’s blood pressure to drop rapidly during an exaggerated laugh. This triggers a heightened response from the autonomic nervous system 鈥� the network of nerves that regulates involuntary physiological processes 鈥� leading to a temporary dip in the amount of blood that flows to the brain, which can result in a loss of consciousness.
鈥淲hen you laugh, you’re moving your chest up and down, and it changes the pressure in the thoracic cavity [chest] and it can affect what’s called the vagus nerve,鈥� which carries signals between the brain and most of the internal organs, Cohen told LiveScience. 鈥淚t can cause you to become lightheaded, [or] even 鈥� very, very, very rarely 鈥� pass out, especially when it’s very exaggerated.鈥�