Most of us have dogs because of the sheer joy they bring us. Well, it turns out that this joy also has health benefits.
“Dogs may be beneficial in reducing cardiovascular risk in their owners by providing social support and motivation for physical activity,” a study published in Scientific Reports found.
So, if you want to live a longer life you may want to get a dog.
Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden reviewed national registry records of 3.4 million people between the ages of 40 to 80 who had no history of cardiovascular disease.
Their health records and dog ownership records were observed over a 12 year period. The dog owners were found to have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those who didn’t own a dog.
They also had a lower risk of death from other causes.
The study found that owning a dog can decrease the risk of death by 33 percent for those who lived alone and 11 percent for those who did not. It also found that having a dog reduced the risk of cardiovascular-related death by 36 percent for those who live alone and 15 percent lower for those who did not.
Chances of getting a heart attack were 11 percent lower for those who live alone and there was no difference in this number for those who live with others.
“A very interesting finding in our study was that dog ownership was especially prominent as a protective factor in persons living alone, which is a group reported previously to be at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death than those living in a multi-person household,” one of the study’s authors, Mwenya Mubanga, told CNN.
These results, however, may be because dog owners get more physical activity from walking and playing with their dogs.
“It is hard to say if there truly is a causal effect. This study in particular, excluded patients with heart disease in general, and we know that disabled people may be less likely to own a dog so that really raises the question if owning a dog lead to heart health or is it merely a marker for people who are more likely to have good heart health,” said Dr. Rachel Bond, the Associate Director of Women’s Heart Health told CNN.
Either way, it’s not like we needed another reason to own a dog. Regardless of how many years we live, the time we spend with our dogs is a lot happier.
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