Study Reveals That Owning a Dog Can Improve Heart Health
New research published by the American Heart Association, has found that dog owners who are heart attack survivors have a lower risk of death by 33% and stroke survivors by 27%1.
Not only that but the meta-analysis (which looked at 3.8 million Americans) found that overall doggy Mum’s and Dad’s had a 24% reduced risk of death.
But for some it wasn’t all wagging tails Caroline Kramer, M.D. Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto explained “the findings that people who owned dogs lived longer and their risk for cardiovascular death was also lower are somewhat expected.”
But rest assured numerous previous reports and studies have found countless benefits from a number of lifestyle factors that are associated with having a furry pal. These include:
- Increase physical activity (all of that dog walking!)2
- Improved immunity to bacterial microbiome thanks to doggy slobber and germs3
- Cuddling dogs for as little as ten minutes is associated with lower stress levels and increase happiness4
- Lowered blood pressure
This isn’t the first study of its kind to be released with a Swedish study of 3.4 million people also giving dogs credit for improved heart health and overall vitality5. Speaking to the BBC, lead study author Mwenya Mubanga from Uppsala University commented “the results showed that single dog owners had a 33 per cent reduction in risk of death and 11 per cent reduction in risk of heart attack.”6If you don’t have room for a dog in your home or lifestyle, it’s time to convince your boss that an office dog should be the next hire, they’ve been found to increase productivity and decrease stress in the office.7
You may also be interesting in the following article:
Study reveals 7 signs that could predict heart disease
Source:
3 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14767447
4 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2332858419852592
5 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171117085115.htm
6 https://www.bbc.com/news/health-42009932
7 https://www.inc.com/john-mcdermott/study-office-dogs-reduce-work-related-stress.html
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