Are Dogs Good for Heart Health?

Being a dog owner could mean that you may be 23% less likely to die from heart disease a study conducted in Sweden has concluded. The study took data covering 12 years from 3.4 million people aged between 40 and 80 and found that those who owned a dog enjoyed an astounding 23% reduction in mortality from heart disease and were 20% less likely to die from any cause. The study was unable to say whether dogs improve health or whether healthier people prefer to own dogs.

Many studies have linked dog ownership to various benefits which may help explain the phenomenon. Dogs have been shown to reduce loneliness, depression and social isolation, all of which are risk factors for heart disease. Dogs can also help to reduce stress, helping to boost the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for calming us down, and also reduce blood pressure. Finally dog owners are often more physically active and spend lots of time outdoors exercising themselves as well as their dogs, and indeed the study showed that the most benefits came from owning active working dogs like retrievers.

As well as all the love and affection people enjoy from their pet dogs it also seems that good health is another benefit of the enduring partnership between dogs and people.