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Laughter is more likely to trigger an asthma attack in a child than exercise or smog, according to an Australian study.

Richard Henry and colleagues at the University of New South Wales analysed all cases over a six-month period of children who were taken to the emergency department at Sydney Children鈥檚 Hospital because they were suffering from an asthma attack. Almost one third had what Henry calls 鈥渕irth-triggered asthma鈥�.

鈥淭his is one example where laughter is not the best medicine,鈥� Henry told delegates to a meeting of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand in Cairns. 鈥淲e like our children to be happy but if children with asthma can鈥檛 be happy because it brings on asthma, that鈥檚 a major potential problem.鈥�

The parents of these children, as well as children with asthma who attended outpatient respiratory clinics at the hospital, were asked to complete questionnaires on symptoms, medication and triggers.

Mirth-triggered asthma was more common in older children, in those with more night-time and early morning symptoms, and in those who reported changes in weather and chemical irritants as also being triggers for attacks.

The reasons for the link are unclear, but Henry thinks mirth-triggered asthma is primarily caused by the physical stimulation of irritant receptors in the airways. However, he says that laughter-triggered problems can be avoided if the asthma is managed properly.

Henry鈥檚 team also asked the parents of 62 children with asthma to keep laughter diaries, and to measure their child鈥檚 鈥減eak expiratory flow鈥� after each asthma attack. Laughter while watching a film caused the biggest reduction in flow.