Oliver's Corner
Do dogs, cats, guinea pigs, birds, rabbits and other pets offer health benefits to their owners?
That's the common wisdom, but the jury is still out on just how
therapeutic pets really are, according to a recent article in the
New York Times. In 2008, the National Institutes of Health launched
a research initiative to examine the relationship between pets and our
health. Here's some of what they've found so far.
* Scientists looked at 421 heart attack victims—some dog owners,
some not—a year after they'd suffered their myocardial infractions.
Dog owners who had canine companions were far more likely to be
alive than were those without, regardless of the severity of the heart
attack.
* A study of more than 2,000 adults found, not surprisingly, that dog
owners who regularly walked their dogs were more physically active
and less likely to be obese than those who didn't own or walk a dog.
Another study followed older adults and found that those who
regularly walked a dog had greater mobility inside their homes
than others who took part in the study. * Walking a dog leads to more conversations and helps you stay socially
connected, which in turn leads to living longer with fewer mental and
physical declines as you age, another study indicates.
* It's not just seniors and other adults who may be able thank their
pets in part for their emotional well-being. "When children
are asked who they talk to when they get upset, a lot of times their
first answer is their pet," Dr. James Griffin, a scientist at NIH's
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development told the NIH "News in Health" newsletter.
"This points to the importance of pets as a source of comfort
and developing empathy." Other studies indicate thatpets may:* help lower blood pressure
* reduce stress
* lower health care costs (pet owners visit the doctor less
frequently than those who don't have an animal, research indicates)
* fight depression
Whether these apparent boosts can be proven or not remains to
be seen. But in the meantime, if you're weighing the pros and cons
of pet ownership, you might want to take this evidence into account.
That's the common wisdom, but the jury is still out on just how
therapeutic pets really are, according to a recent article in the
New York Times. In 2008, the National Institutes of Health launched
a research initiative to examine the relationship between pets and our
health. Here's some of what they've found so far.
* Scientists looked at 421 heart attack victims—some dog owners,
some not—a year after they'd suffered their myocardial infractions.
Dog owners who had canine companions were far more likely to be
alive than were those without, regardless of the severity of the heart
attack.
* A study of more than 2,000 adults found, not surprisingly, that dog
owners who regularly walked their dogs were more physically active
and less likely to be obese than those who didn't own or walk a dog.
Another study followed older adults and found that those who
regularly walked a dog had greater mobility inside their homes
than others who took part in the study. * Walking a dog leads to more conversations and helps you stay socially
connected, which in turn leads to living longer with fewer mental and
physical declines as you age, another study indicates.
* It's not just seniors and other adults who may be able thank their
pets in part for their emotional well-being. "When children
are asked who they talk to when they get upset, a lot of times their
first answer is their pet," Dr. James Griffin, a scientist at NIH's
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development told the NIH "News in Health" newsletter.
"This points to the importance of pets as a source of comfort
and developing empathy." Other studies indicate thatpets may:* help lower blood pressure
* reduce stress
* lower health care costs (pet owners visit the doctor less
frequently than those who don't have an animal, research indicates)
* fight depression
Whether these apparent boosts can be proven or not remains to
be seen. But in the meantime, if you're weighing the pros and cons
of pet ownership, you might want to take this evidence into account.
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