Posted on 01/21/2007 11:06:02 AM PST by blam
Dog-owners 'lead healthier lives'
Dogs can provide companionship
If you want to live a healthier life get a dog, research suggests.
The companionship offered by many pets is thought to be good for you, but the benefits of owning a dog outstrip those of cat owners, the study says.
A psychologist from Queen's University, Belfast, said dog owners tended to have lower blood pressure and cholesterol.
Writing in the British Journal of Health Psychology, she says that regular 'walkies' may partly explain the difference.
Dr Deborah Wells reviewed dozens of earlier research papers which looked at the health benefits of pet ownership.
In some cases, the social support offered by an animal is greater than the support than another human could offer
Dr June McNicholas Health psychologist
She confirmed that pet owners tended in general to be healthier than the average member of the population.
However, her research suggested that dog ownership produced more positive influence than cat ownership.
As well as lower blood pressure and cholesterol, she said dog-owners suffered fewer minor ailments and serious medical problems.
There was also the suggestion that dogs could aid recovery from serious illnesses such as heart attacks, and act as 'early warning' to detect an approaching epileptic seizure.
Stress-busting
Dr Wells said the precise reason for the benefits was not totally clear.
"It is possible that dogs can directly promote our well-being by buffering us from stress, one of the major risk factors associated with ill-health.
"The ownership of a dog can also lead to increases in physical activity and facilitate the development of social contacts, which may enhance both physiological and psychological human health in a more indirect manner."
Dr June McNicholas, a health psychologist who has specialised on research into the health effects of pet ownership said that an important reason for the improved health of dog-owners was not just the exercise received while taking it for walks, but the opportunity for social contact with other dog-owners.
She said: "For older people, an animal can fulfil the 'need to be needed', perhaps after children have left home.
"In some cases, the social support offered by an animal is greater than the support than another human could offer."
To view my dogs, click on my name.
Healthier lives:
Dogs and global warming, or
Cats and global warming?
Wasn't there a recent study that said dogs are the closest animal to us genetically?
Great photo, blam.
That people with dogs are healthier comes as no surprise to me...especially in the mentally healthy department. Dogs are just great for the soul.
No.
Bonobos are the closest.
What did dogs do to deserve that?
Please delete this thread before my dog reads it and starts demanding better food, a softer bed, etc., etc. Please hurry. He gets up from his afternoon nap in about an hour.
Tell me about it. My halfbreed dalmatian is complaining about the snow interfering with her walk.
By all accounts they're hornier than we are. And that's saying something.
An interesting article; however, I'm not so sure about the lowered blood pressure business. I know my BP rises when the several neighborhood dogs begin their incessant barking; once they start it continues almost all day.
I must be going to live forever. I have 3 Labradors. The three of them have more personality than a lot of people I know....smarter than a lot of people I know, too.
Well, I guess female dogs can be harder to please.
That's easy ... they make you get up off your butt and take them for a walk.
That's a survival strategy. Of all primates, humans and bonobo females do not exhibit any sign when they are fertile. All other primates do. Bonobo females have frequent sex with all the males in their troop and consequently the males have no idea who is the father of the children...consequently, they don't practice infanticide as do all other non-human primates.
BTW, human females are the only primates who give birth with the baby's head facing aft and often require assistance during birth. Other primate females can assist the birth of their own children...humans deliver 'backwards' because of the large head.
Great looking pack ya got there!
Very cute dogs, Blam, in your profile.
My chihuahuas, Fidel and Charo are actually taking years off my life I think.
I sure love my dogs. It really is a to joy just watching them playing and having fun.
I told you so!
May be, but I'd like a little more evidence than what's here. The people who can afford to keep a dog are probably also better able to take care of themselves. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if you did the research you'd find that the average dog owner is better off financially than the non-owner.
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