Preventing Heart Disease
Heart disease is one of the US' biggest killers, yet it is another area where pets provide health benefits. One study showed that keeping a pet significantly reduced levels of cholesterol and blood triglyceride (two factors believed to influence the disease). These effects could not be explained by differences in diet, smoking or socioeconomic group. This fact, combined with the reduction in blood pressure from being with a pet, may make pet owners less prone to heart attacks than non pet-owners.
Studies have shown that those who own pets can have significantly lower systolic blood pressure, triglyceride values, and cholesterol levels than those who do not own pets even after accounting for additional exercise and other differences that might be present.
A study published in the American Journal of Cardiology found that male dog owners were significantly less likely to die within one year after a heart attack than those who did not own a dog. These findings were significant, though the ability to generalize these findings to the total US population was limited by the small sample size (369 men), the measurement techniques that were used, and the fact that these men had cardiovascular disease. These results, however, may still be useful in prompting further exploration into what it is about pet ownership that provides these health benefits.
Other researchers have found that the presence of a pet is associated with a decreased cardiovascular reactivity to stressors and that cardiovascular risk factors were greater among those who did not own pets than those who did.
Pet ownership proved to be one of the best predictors of survival from a heart attack according to an American study. The study showed that those patients who owned a pet had a much better chance of surviving for more than a year after a heart attack - a difference that could not be explained by the extra exercise the dog owners enjoyed.
Animal companionship also helps lower a person's blood pressure and cholesterol levels. And studies show that having a dog increases survival rates in groups of patients who have suffered cardiac arrest. Dog walking, pet grooming, and even petting provide increased physical activity that strengthens the heart, improves blood circulation, and slows the loss of bone tissue.