Hyderabad Man Faints After Laughing Non-Stop. Doctor Explains Diagnosis

We all have those people in our lives -- the ones who laugh without abandon. After all, laughter is the best medicine a doctor can ever prescribe. However, as we all know anything in excess is harmful. An unusual case, highlighting the same, came to light when a man in Hyderabad ended up in a hospital after fainting from excessive laughter.

Dr Sudhir Kumar, a neurologist at Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad, shared details of the incident on X and also explained what exactly happened. According to the tweet, the incident happened when the 53-year-old man, referred to as "Mr Shyam", was drinking tea and watching a comedy show with his family. 

''Mr Shyam found it so funny that he could not control his laughter. He laughed non-stop for several minutes. All was going well until an unexpected event occurred. Mr Shyam lost control over the teacup and the cup fell off his hand. Soon afterwards, his body leaned to one side, and he fell off the chair onto the ground. He had lost consciousness, and his daughter noticed a few jerky movements of his hands.'' the neurologist wrote on the social media platform. 

Here's the tweet:

The panicked family called an ambulance and rushed him to the hospital. However, after a few minutes, he opened his eyes and was able to move his body and talk to everyone around. By the time he was brought to the emergency room, he had completely recovered.

After examining his medical history, doctors found nothing wrong with him and referred him to Dr Sudhir Kumar for further evaluation. Dr Kumar diagnosed the condition as laughter-induced syncope, a rare occurrence caused by vasovagal mechanisms.

''He had no history of any medical illness, and he was not on any medications. The diagnosis was clear to me. The diagnosis was: Laughter-induced syncope,'' the doctor noted. 

He did not prescribe any medicines to the patient but advised him to get a cardiology evaluation done. The doctor also asked Mr Shyam to avoid common triggers for syncope, such as excessive laughter, prolonged standing, and excessive physical exertion.

What is laughter-induced syncope?

Laughter-induced syncope is a rare condition in which a person temporarily loses consciousness (syncope) as a result of intense laughter. An exaggerated laugh causes a person's blood pressure to drop rapidly. According toLive Science, this triggers a heightened response from the autonomic nervous system leading to a temporary dip in the amount of blood that flows to the brain, which can result in a loss of consciousness.