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There have been a lot of recent studies of depression, stress and workplace tensions and their effect on health. They did not make a pretty picture. These things can kill you.

Finally, however, there is a movement to study positive feelings and happy thoughts and, yes, laughter which was once labeled "The Best Medicine", and their effects. It is a happier picture. Perhaps even a comedy.

After my heart attack I noticed that movies affected me more. I might, in private, cry over a melodrama that I would have turned off before . The good, funny movies really did make me feel better as does a good joke or an amusing book. It does help to laugh. Not as a clown who laughs with tears but the good laugh that is convivial and enervating.

A study reported by Reuters shows this wasn't just an emotional feeling, but had a real positive effect on the heart. The work is from the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

Exactly why laughing might give a jolt to the circulation isn't clear. It's possible that it counters the effects that stress hormones can have on blood vessel function, Miller and his colleagues speculate. In addition, laughter may spur the body's production of nitric oxide, a chemical that helps dilate blood vessels.

Had a really good laugh recently? Just do it. Laughter is good for you. Researchers have begun to examine not just those negative feelings -- depression -- and how it negatively influences health. They are also beginning to study positive feelings and how they impact your health and aging.

The research used 20 young adults who "watched a movie that made them laugh". The tests showed that their blood pressure showed a similar drop as had been noted after aerobic exercise. The study is being published in the February journal Heart.

Dr. Michael Miller, chief author of the study, warned that giving up aerobic exercise is not indicated. He suggested, instead, that perhaps people could watch funny movies while working on exercise machines like a treadmill.

The testers had their subjects watch a comedy, Something About Mary which I didn't find funny but that is neither here nor there. Either the subjects or the researchers did. They were tested with non-invasive blood flow measurements after that film and after a "distressing film", like Saving Private Ryan. The results showed a 50% improvement in blood flow after the comedy over the heavier flick.

There have been a number of quantifying studies recently that proved the hypothesis that depression is bad for the health, shortens life and increases illness. There have also been some which showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that being middle class or affluent was good for you. Wow! Ain't science grand?

The thing to do now is to laugh a lot, develop a sense of humor and watch happy films. The last can be hard since I would find it more pleasurable to watch Saving Private Ryan, which is a better film. I also hate sappy films. But Animal Crackers or Bringing Up Baby would do. You could even add, for additional good health, Mel Brooks' High Anxiety, some of Woody Allen's funny films, a bit of Chevy Chase and a dollop of Frank Capra. Don't forget It Happened One Night and you may live to be 100.