Listening to your favorite tunes or funny jokes could lower your blood pressure, perhaps even as much as cutting salt from your diet or dropping 10 pounds

Japanese researchers have found that people who took part in bimonthly group sessions built around music or laughter lowered their systolic blood pressure (the top number in the reading) by an average of five to six points after three months. By contrast, the average blood-pressure reading in a control group that received neither therapy didn't budge. Though relatively modest, blood-pressure reductions of the size seen in the study have been linked to a 5% to 15% lower risk of death from heart disease or stroke. How, exactly, music and laughter might benefit blood pressure remains unclear. Researchers think that by promoting relaxation the therapies may lower levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that can contribute to high blood pressure. In a previous study, researchers showed that both laughing and listening to upbeat music improved the function of the inner lining of blood vessels, causing them to expand by 30%. Nitric oxide released in response to laughter or music might be the magic compound that dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. Researchers say that music and laughter may affect blood pressure through different pathways. Music is believed to influence the parasympathetic nervous system, which relaxes the body and slows the heart rate, but more research is needed to understand how humor affects a person's emotional - and, in turn, physical - response to stress.