Sunday, July 7, 2019

The Science Of Smiles

Barbecue Brings Comfort In A Crisis
Paige Vickers for NPR

Cry (Or Smile) If You Want To

Genuine smiles are a tonic to the soul, but can smiling when you’re sad change your mood? Dick Van Dyke sang about the phenomenon — and so did Nat King Cole. Psychologists now say it’s not that simple.

After reviewing 300 studies on the “facial feedback hypothesis,” the researchers estimate that if 100 people moved their face muscles into the shape of a smile, maybe seven would feel happier than if they hadn’t smiled. (Talk about a lucky seven!) Read more about how forced smiles can backfire.

BONUS: Learn about laughter's hidden meanings.
 

Comfort barbecue
Ken Goodman Photographer

Comfort Food Helps In A Crisis

Operation BBQ Relief has brought heartfelt smiles and aid to millions of people across 26 states. Since 2011, the roving band of champion barbecue cooks, pitmasters and other volunteers has hurried to disaster zones after a tornado, flood or other catastrophe to cook comfort meals and spread hope among survivors.

"I spent 10 days total volunteering,” says Leigh Carnell of her time in Houston after Hurricane Harvey. “You get hooked; you get addicted. You just want to help more."

Discover how the group got started, and how to get 200 of  the cooks’ prize recipes. (Part of the book's proceeds go to Operation BBQ Relief.)

BONUS:  Learn why volunteering to help strangers can be especially great for teens.
 

Cultura RM Exclusive/Sigrid Gomb/Getty Images

AMA Lawsuit Wades Into Abortion Debate


The American Medical Association is taking North Dakota to court over two laws having to do with abortion. Both laws involve what the state requires doctors to tell their patients – and that’s interference in the doctor-patient relationship, the AMA says.

The first law, set to take effect Aug. 1, requires physicians to tell patients that it’s possible to reverse a medication abortion – a procedure that involves two drugs taken at different times. The AMA says such a statement would be “a patently false and unproven claim unsupported by scientific evidence.”

The second law the national physicians' group is challenging requires doctors to tell pregnant women that an abortion terminates “the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being.” Such a statement would force doctors to be “a mouthpiece of the state,” the AMA argues.

Read more about AMA’s positions on abortion-related issues over the years.

More of this week's health stories from NPR

Need chemo, must travel: Hospital closure hurts rural cancer patients

How kids and teens are boosting Juul’s brand – and e-cigarettes' reach

New biomarkers for Alzheimer’s

 
We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism on Shots and follow us on Twitter at @NPRHealth.

Your Shots editor,

Deborah Franklin

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