Laugh it off. Save your Heart with a Good Ole Laugh.

The number one killer in North America can be hindered by watching blooper reels or whatever one might do to illicit their inner laugh response.

So why do stress reduction techniques -- laughter in particular-- reduce the risk of heart disease?  To answer that, it helps to know how mental stress can potentially damage your heart.

"When you're under a lot of stress there are chemicals that are released that cause blood pressure and the heart rate to go up, cause platelets to clump together and all of those set up a series of reactions that could enhance the process of plaque formation and development," said Miller. "So people that appear to be under lots of stress all the time are at increased risk [for heart disease] even if they don’t have a family history of heart disease or if they don't have diabetes."

Conversely, reducing stress, with laughter in particular, can have the opposite effect.

"We think laughter is an active process and may have a direct impact on improving the lining of the blood vessels," explained Miller. Reducing stress also benefits the heart by lowering the blood pressure, and heart rate.

"The ability to laugh may have important implications in societies such as the U.S. where heart disease remains the number one killer," Miller said. "We know that exercising, not smoking and eating foods low in saturated fat, will reduce the risk of heart disease. Perhaps regular, hearty laughter should be added to the list."