Why Having A Pet Tends to Improve Your Heart Health

There is a correlation between having a pet such as a dog or cat and an improved health status. Exactly how this works was the subject of a recent article (See: American Heart Association: Pets, especially dogs, are good for the heart). Below is an excerpt from it: An animal companion may not just warm your heart, but also help you maintain a healthy heart....Pet ownership, particularly dog ownership, is probably associated with a decreased risk of heart disease," [said the] director of the cardiac care unit at Baylor College of Medicine....[T]here are 78.2 million owned dogs and 86.4 million owned cats in the United States. Thirty-nine percent of U.S. households have at least one dog, while 33 percent have at least one a cat. The AHA's committee reviewed previous research on how pets affect human health, and they found studies that showed owning a pet was associated with fewer heart disease risk factors and increased survival among patients. In particular, owning a dog was shown to reduce cardiovascular risk, perhaps because dog owners are more likely to engage in physical activities just by walking them. One study of over 5,200 adults showed that dog owners were more active than non-dog owners, and were 54 percent more likely to reach recommended levels of physical activity....[A cardiologist said that] "there are plausible psychological, sociological and physiological reasons to believe that pet ownership might actually have a causal role in decre...
Source: Lab Soft News - Category: Pathologists Authors: Tags: Healthcare Delivery Medical Consumerism Source Type: blogs