Pets Enhance Human Health
Pets have been a fixture at our side and in our homes for thousands of years, but medicine has only recently begun to truly document what many knew subjectively – that our pets enhance our health.
The proof is in the numbers – more than two thirds of U.S. households own at least one pet and now research studies are documenting real benefits of the human-animal bond, whether in our homes or in animal-assisted therapy programs.
The National Institutes of Health in 2008 found the benefit of dog ownership to be tied to increased survival after a heart attack. They found that a year after a heart attack, those patients who owned dogs “were significantly more likely to be still alive than were those who did not own dogs, regardless of the severity of the heart attack.”
Another controlled NIH study looked at marriage – couples owning pets were found to have lower heart rates and blood pressures than non-owners. An interesting side note to this study was that pet owners appeared to have a smaller response and quicker recovery from stress when they were with their pets versus being with a spouse or friend.
An obvious benefit of owning a dog is increased activity, unless you’ve both become couch potatoes. But did you know that those walks also lead to more conversations with humans and increased social connections? Multiple studies show a direct link for people who have more social relationships to live longer and to show less mental and physical declines as they age. Use your dog as a prescription for improved health for both of you by getting out for more walks.
Pet therapy has been thought to help in many settings, but research is now truly documenting the impact of pet-assisted therapies, from visits to senior centers by volunteers with pets to the impact that service dogs can make in a returning soldier’s transition to non-military life after injury.
Therapy with pets can also now be found in some school and library reading programs. Reading with Rover has demonstrated the benefit for many children to bring up reading and literacy skills as they regularly read and talk about their reading with guidance to a volunteer therapy dog.
And, it’s not just for dogs only – there are increasing numbers of therapy visits by cats, rabbits, rats and ferrets. Horses are also a big part of prescribed therapies, with riding programs that can help to rehabilitate after injury, help with strength and posture in chronic diseases and help with mental development in children.
Being raised with pets has also been shown to have childhood benefits. Simply learning to be responsible for the care of a pet or pets is great, but it may also be that pets will have a psychological impact for autistic children to improve their interactions with people.
So it may become more common for doctors and therapists to prescribe animal-assisted therapy, but reach out today to give some love to your current cat or dog and know that it’s lowering your blood pressure.
Dr. Margot can be reached at parkhillvet.com. For more information on pet therapy programs and/or participating in such with your pet, visit www.petpartners.org