There has been much research done into the ways pets help health. From the obvious, walking a dog provides us with exercise, to more clinical research showing that pet ownership can reduce blood pressure, lower cholesterol and aid depression.
This article shares the Get Healthy Stay Healthy Get A Pet facts!
The 8 Ways Pets Help Health
Let’s have a look at the 8 key ways that pet ownership may help keep get you healthy and keep you healthy!
1. Boost Immunity And Alleviate Allergies.
This may sound starnge to you, as many people avoid pet ownership because of allergies! However that doesn’t need to be the case. Here’s the evidence!
One of the functions of our immune system is to seek and find potentially harmful threats that have entered our body. Once identified our immune system releases antibodies to combat these perceived threats.
However sometimes our body overreacts and harmless substances are categorized and considered dangerous. The immune system kicks in and reacts and we get an allergic reaction.
And for this reason people think pets may trigger these allergic reactions. However the research shows that living with a pet during the first year of life cuts the probabilities of developing pet allergies later in life and also lowers the risk of developing asthma.
A 2017 study1Cat exposure in early life decreases asthma risk from the 17q21 high-risk variant based on newborns who live with cats found that they had a lower risk of developing childhood asthma, bronchiolitis and pneumonia.
Another research study2Effect of household pet ownership on infant immune response and subsequent sensitization that shows living with a pet as a child actually increases and raises function of our immune system.
One research study3Effect of petting a dog on immune system function focused on college students and the petting a dog. This research found that petting a dog for 18 minutes raised immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels in saliva. This is evidence of a clinically robust immune system.
2. Help Boost Mood And Aid Depression.
Pet ownership, or even occasional pet companionship, helps to resolve loneliness and can increase personal happiness.
Owning a pet ensures that you engage with life, you need to take them on walks, be responsible for their wellness, buy food, keep them healthy and all these aspects of pet ownership help keep us focused and stable.
Research on pets and emotional health shows positive signs that pet therapy helps depression and other mood disorders.
3. Pets and Stress Reduction.
Stress causes our body to go into fight or flight mode.
This means our body releases hormones such as cortisol which increases the level of blood sugars and epinephrine which, in turn, causes our heart rate to elevate.
This may have been great for our ancient predecessors who used these releases to avoid predators or fight competitors.
The problem is that in our modern world, if we live in a constant state of fight or flight, the stress takes a physical toll on our body.
It raises our risk of heart disease, increases susceptibility to infectious disease and may contribute to depression.
Research4Psychosocial and Psychophysiological Effects of Human-Animal Interactions: The Possible Role of Oxytocin has shown that the psycho-social and psycho-physiological effects of pet ownership lowers the release stress hormones and slows the heart rate.
Pet ownership, or regular contact with a pet, has been shown through research to lower our anxiety levels and can elevate our feeling of peace and calm.
Studies show that dogs help to ease both stress and loneliness in senior citizens, and help to achieve a state of calm in college students before examinations.
Get Healthy, Stay Healthy, Get A Pet!
4. Pets help lower cholestrol.
Research has shown that Pet Owners, most likely due to the exercise, have far better heart health, lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol than non pet owners!
5. Pets Increase Feelings of Love.
Being in the same environment with your pet has a calming effect on the body.
Oxytocin, the so called “love hormone”, is released when we stroke our pets. In fact research has shown that our levels of oxytocin increase just looking at our pets!
That’s why when you look at your best friend you have those wonderful feelings of joy.
6. Pets lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Lower cholesterol, less stress, and reduced blood pressure levels, when combined with additional physical activity, increases our personal fitness which in turn reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Studies have shown that of those people who suffered a heart attack there was a 60% increase in first year survival for pet owners.
7. Pets help our emotional health.
Pets provide socialization opportunities and also individual support to their owners.
The British Psychological Society found that pets, dogs in particular, promoted therapeutic and psychological well being as well as lowering stress and improving self esteem.
It was noted that pet owners tended to be happier in their life and had higher self confidence than non pet owners.
8. Pets help Health as we age.
Owning a pet offers companionship to the elderly, and is seen as one of the contributing factors to better health as we age. The companionship allows feelings of love and support and decreases loneliness.
Pet ownership also provides the elderly with more opportunity for exercise and is particularly of benefit if suffering with illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and may even help prevent the onset of osteoporosis.
Research shows that Alzheimer’s patients have much fewer anxiety attacks and aggressive outbursts if they are in an environment which has pets.
And there we are! I hope you have enjoyed our post about how pets help health. And if you want to get healthy and stay healthy, Get a Pet!
References
- 1Cat exposure in early life decreases asthma risk from the 17q21 high-risk variant
- 2Effect of household pet ownership on infant immune response and subsequent sensitization
- 3Effect of petting a dog on immune system function
- 4Psychosocial and Psychophysiological Effects of Human-Animal Interactions: The Possible Role of Oxytocin
This is an article close to my daughter’s heart. She is 11 and all she talks about is how badly she wants a pet – cat or dog, fish or turtle, hamster or bird, it doesn’t even matter lol. Now I can tell her that owning a pet will give her health benefits and allow her to live longer than the average person without a pet. Oh Lord, what a monster she will be lol. Seriously though, this is a great post. I had no idea that there were so many associated health benefits to pet ownership. Thank you for such a well presented post!
Thank you Tamara,
I think on this occasion…you need to listen to the little one (your daughter can thank me later)…Pet ownership is proven to be a great benefit to our health…and even if she is the “pet owner” you get the benefit…simply look at the pet, let your heart melt and that is enough to increase your Serotonin… so good news for everyone…including the turtle/fish/cat/dog lol