Pets are not just good for the soul, they are good for your physical and mental health. Dogs even more so. If you have the means to care for one, you may consider getting one yourself. This is our beagle Jude with my daughter Charlotte. Isn’t he the cutest?

Pets Are Family

Dogs really are man’s best friend.

Diagnosis Life summary:
A study published in Nature (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-16118-6) reveals what all dog owners already know — dogs really are man’s best friend. Researchers reviewed the health records of 3.4 million people in Sweden. People who owned a dog were less likely to have heart disease or die from any cause during the 12 years covered by the study. The protective effect was particularly prominent for people living alone, who usually have a higher risk of early death than those who live with other people.

Having a dog increases your odds of surviving a heart attack.

Diagnosis Life summary:
We mentioned a survival benefit of dog ownership for people with heart disease in the study above. Does that hold up in other studies? You bet. Another study in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes (https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.118.005342) looked at 340,000 adults who were registered in the Swedish National Patient Register. Researchers focused on adults between 40 and 85 years of age who had a heart attack or stroke in the past 12 months. 5.7% of these people owned a dog. There was a 16% risk of death within one year. For people who owned a dog, that risk decreased by 2.4% for men and 2.1% for women who had a heart attack and by 2.0% for men and 1.9% for women who had a stroke. Over 800,000 person-years, dog owners were 20% less likely than non-owners to die. Having a pet is a lot of work, but it tends to keep you more active and socially engaged. Those things may be protective for your cardiovascular system.

You may live longer if you have a dog.

Diagnosis Life summary:
Most people who have pets see them as part of the family. It has been shown that owning a dog is not only good for companionship but also helps to decrease stress and blood pressure. Even your cholesterol improves! Now, a meta-analysis in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes (https:/doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.119.005554) shows it may have a survival benefit as well. The researchers looked at 10 prospective studies that included 3.8 million people. Over a decade, dog owners had a 24% decreased risk for death compared to non-owners. People who had a heart attack in the past were also 31% less likely to have a life-ending cardiac event.