Having A Dog Is Good For Your Heart, Study Finds

(CNN) — Dog’s aren’t just our best friends, they’re also good for our health, new research suggests. A study published Friday in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings says that owning a pet, especially a dog, may help maintain a healthy heart — in case you needed any more reason to head to your local animal shelter. The study began in 2013 and 2014, when researchers gathered health and socioeconomic information on over 2,000 people in Brno, Czech Republic, and scheduled follow-up evaluations for every five years until 2030. The latest was this year, in 2019, when researchers again looked at about 2,000 people with no history of heart disease. They scored the participants on the American Heart Association’s list of seven ideal health behaviors and factors, also known as “Life’s Simple 7”: body mass index, diet, physical activity, smoking status, blood pressure, blood glucose and total cholesterol. The researchers compared the cardiovascular health scores of pet owners with those of petless people. In general, people who owned a pet were more physically active than those who did not, with healthier diets and blood sugar levels. But then they compared dog owners with everyone else and found that no matter their age, sex or education level, they benefited the most in terms of cardiovascular health. Take that, cat people. The findings are consistent with research that has shown that dog ownership leads to more physical activity. ...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health News Syndicated CBSN Boston CNN Dogs Source Type: news