This is the smartest dog, according to study 0:51
(CNN) -
If you told your dog that it is National Dog Day, I suspect he would answer the following: “I thought every day was Dog Day!
Can you give me an award?
And while your dog is devouring it, take a moment to reflect on all that your dog has to offer in your life.
Perhaps it is you, dear owner, who receives the best prize: better health.
Dogs and cardiovascular health
A 2019 analysis of nearly 4 million people in the United States, Canada, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom found that owning a dog was associated with a 24% reduction in premature death from any cause.
If the person had already had a heart attack or stroke, owning a dog was even more beneficial: They were 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.
The study has been criticized for failing to control for other diseases, socioeconomic status, and other factors that could obscure the results.
However, another large study published around the same time found that people who owned dogs had better health outcomes after suffering a major cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke.
Drinking a little alcohol each week protects your heart if you have a cardiovascular condition, according to a study
The benefit was greatest for dog owners who lived alone.
Heart attack survivors who lived alone and owned a dog had a 33% lower risk of death than those who did not.
Heart attack survivors living alone with a dog had a 27% lower risk of death.
The American Heart Association (AHA) includes reducing diabetes on the list of health benefits of owning a dog.
"People who regularly walk their dogs have one-third the risk of diabetes as those without a dog," states the AHA.
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Additionally, owning a dog (or other companion animal) can provide important social and emotional support and is a "powerful predictor of behavioral changes that can lead to weight loss," the AHA said.
Of course, these cardiovascular benefits refer only to dogs, not cats, horses, gerbils, and the like.
Many suggest that it is the potential exposure to exercise that explains the benefit: The AHA points to studies that found that pet owners who walk their dogs get up to 30 minutes more exercise per day than those who do not walk dogs.
However, in a previous interview with CNN, Dr. Martha Gulati, editor-in-chief of CardioSmart.org, the patient education platform of the American College of Cardiology, said that it is not yet clear why.
"Is it the dog or is it the behaviors?"
Gulati asked.
"Is it because they exercise or is there a difference in the type of person who would choose to have a dog versus another who would not? Are they healthier or wealthier? We don't know those things."
Still, while "non-randomized studies cannot 'prove' that adopting or owning a dog leads directly to reduced mortality, these strong findings certainly suggest so, at least," Dr. Glenn Levine, chair of the writing group for the American Heart Association's Scientific Statement on Pet Ownership.
The American Heart Association suggests several ways to be active with your dog:
Take your dog on a picnic.
"Bring some healthy snacks, such as fruit, vegetables, mixed nuts, and plenty of water (including a puppy bowl). Bring a ball or other fun toys, advises the AHA.
Accompany your children and your dog to the sprinklers.
"When it's hot, grab your bathing suits and sunscreen and run with your kids and your dog in the sprinklers to cool off," says the AHA, or swim at a dog-friendly beach or pool.
Join local
fundraisers or fun runs that include the dogs, or play “throw and fetch,” with your dog, advises the AHA.
"Even if you only have 10 to 15 minutes, you and your dog will exercise and have time to bond."
However, the AHA also cautions that owning a pet is a commitment to care that carries certain costs and financial responsibilities, so that "the primary goal of adopting, rescuing or purchasing a pet" should not be to reduce cardiovascular risk. .
Pull the legs (or the straps)
It's not just about dogs, of course.
Having a pet of any kind introduces a circle of love in our lives: they give affection, we give it back and we are all better for it.
Science agrees.
"I have a list of 10 health benefits [that] studies have shown pet owners have," said psychologist Harold Herzog, a pet-loving professor at Western Carolina University who has long studied the connection between humans and animals in an earlier CNN interview.
Dogs 'understand' humans, according to study 1:14
"Higher survival rates, fewer heart attacks, less loneliness, better blood pressure, better psychological well-being, lower rates of depression and stress levels, fewer visits to the doctor, higher self-esteem, better sleep and more physical activity", are just a few of the recorded benefits of pet ownership, Herzog said.
But here's a surprise ...
Herzog also points to studies that found pet owners "are more likely to be lonely, depressed and have panic attacks, more likely to suffer from asthma, obesity, high blood pressure, gastric ulcers, migraines and to use more medications, among others".
What happen?
As is often the case in science, studies have conflicting results.
Some research shows the benefits of having a pet, while others claim that there is no difference between the health of those who have and do not have pets.
Other research also suggests that there could even be downsides to pet ownership (and we're not just talking about picking up yard poop).
"A lot of us who have pets think, 'Oh, they must be good for us overall,' Megan Mueller, co-director of the Tufts Institute for Human-Animal Interaction, said in an earlier interview.
"I always say it's not a big question: 'Are our pets good for us?'
It's about who pets are good for, under what circumstances, and if it's the right person-pet partnership. "
Anxiety and mood
Pet owners no doubt believe that pets provide emotional support, especially in times of stress, says Mueller, and luckily the science seems to back it up.
"There is research showing that having a pet with one during an anxiety-producing event could help reduce the stress of that event," he said.
"Studies have repeatedly shown that people's good humor increases and bad mood decreases when they are around pets," Herzog said.
"And that's why we know there are immediate short-term physiological and psychological benefits to interacting with pets. I have no doubts about that."
What is anxiety, what are the symptoms, and how to seek help?
But the same cannot yet be said about depression.
Herzog produced 30 studies on the subject: Eighteen showed no difference in depression rates between people with pets and those without pets;
five concluded that having a pet relieved depressive symptoms;
five found that pets made depression worse;
and the rest were inconclusive.
A Mueller study of seniors found that pet owners were twice as likely to have suffered from depression in the past, but did not report any depression in the past week.
Did they get a pet and then get depressed or did the pet help them end their depression?
It is not clear.
Therapy and emotional support
One of the reasons the science is so dubious on the subject of pets and our health is that it is almost impossible to carry out the "gold standard" of studies: a randomized controlled trial in which the researcher controls all factors and then randomly assigns a pet to the test group.
"It's really hard to do randomized studies because most people want to choose whether or not they have a pet and who their pets are," Mueller said.
Backed by a $ 9 million partnership between the Child Development and Behavior arm of the U.S. National Institute of Health and the U.K. Waltham Petcare Scientific Institute, some researchers have begun to design better studies to determine whether it is the animals that generate the impact.
Therapy dog saves a woman who nearly took her own life
A 2015 study found that children with ADHD who read to real animals showed more improvements in sharing, cooperation, volunteering, and behavior problems than children with ADHD who read to a stuffed animal.
Another study found that autistic children were calmer and more interacting when in the presence of whose (guinea pigs) than with toys.
A four-month randomized study (PDF) conducted at Vanderbilt University in Nashville provided children with access to therapy dogs just before undergoing cancer treatment.
All the children enjoyed it, but there was no decrease in anxiety levels between the children in the test group and those in the control group.
However, parents of children who had therapy dogs showed a significant decrease in their anxiety about their children's pain and their ability to cope.
Watch Dog Training for the Blind 3:12
A 2020 study found a reduction in perceived stress and other symptoms in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who walked shelter dogs.
Of course, walking is exercise, and exercise reduces stress, but the study also found that stress reduction was improved the most when the veterans walked the dogs.
Who improved the most?
Veterans with higher levels of PTSD symptoms who walked with shelter dogs.
Pets as "personalized medicine"?
Another research method being used, Mueller said, is longitudinal studies, in which large numbers of people are followed over long periods of time.
The hope is that these studies, and more scientifically designed experiments, will uncover the most precise reasons why a particular pet may or may not be suitable for a person and their needs.
Someday, Mueller says, it will be possible to "prescribe" a dog to an active child, a troubled teenager or a cardiovascular patient and know, as much as science can, what the health outcome will be.
Perhaps we finally have data to support the "cat vs. dog" debate, or how and why a bird, fish, lizard, or gerbil can ease our stress and provide companionship.
Until then, fellow dog (and cat and other pet) lovers, I suppose we'll have to stick to what we intuitively know: Pets are some of the most loving "people" in our lives, and that, even if it is, makes them good for us.
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