Reducing cardiovascular risk by… raising dogs

Scientists say that raising dogs brings great health benefits to humans, especially reducing the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by about 36%.

Dogs encourage people to be physically active which is beneficial for their health - Photo: Joselito Briones

The study was conducted on 3.4 million Swedish people. Scientists analyzed and counted the number of families with pets and their health status.

Survey participants were between the ages of 40 and 80 and were followed for 12 years, of whom about 13% owned a pet dog.

Results showed that owning a dog reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by about 36%.

The study was published in the journalScientific Reports.

Tove Fall, an epidemiology professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, said the benefits of dog ownership were more pronounced in people who lived alone. Specifically, in households with multiple members, the number of deaths was 11% lower than in households without dogs.

“We found that the impact of dogs on people who live alone is much greater than that of people who live with multiple family members,” Fall said.

Former US President Obama plays ball with his dog Bo in the White House grounds - Photo: Getty Images

Last month, Helen Stokes-Lampard, president of the Royal College of General Practitioners, warned that loneliness has a huge impact on health as an insidious disease that affects people over time.

The estimated 1.1 million Britons who live alone are 50% more likely to die early than those with more social connections. This makes loneliness as dangerous to British health as diabetes.

While the study did not show how dogs improve human health, lonely people may be able to reduce stress and lead a more active lifestyle thanks to their little friends.

In the study, Fall also analyzed the effects of different dog breeds and found that the risk of cardiovascular disease was lowest among owners of hunting dogs.

Hunting dog owners may be naturally active and physically active because the breed is so active. Or it could be the opposite: the dog's active lifestyle keeps the owner from sitting still on the couch.

However, Fall believes that exercise is not the most important factor affecting human health. "What I want to emphasize here is a more open lifestyle," Fall said.

In a previous study, Fall said dog ownership can reduce the risk of asthma in children by about 15%. This supports a hypothesis called the "hygiene hypothesis" that suggests that living in an overly clean environment can increase the risk of allergies.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science in Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Conference in Boston, USA, at the end of October, also published two studies showing that dogs can also help protect people against eczema and reduce asthma symptoms, especially in children.

According to TTO