Your dog could be saving your life
Dog owners have healthier hearts, according to a vast Swedish study that covered millions of people.
Researchers looked at 3.4 million Swedes aged 40 to 80 who went to hospital and who didn't have any previous heart disease. The researchers compared the health of people who owned and didn't own dogs by cross checking with Sweden's detailed dog ownership databases.
Senior study author Tove Fall said the results showed dog owners had a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. The results have been published in Scientific Reports.
In particular, it was found that people who owned hunting-style dogs had an even lower risk of heart disease.
Dog ownership also significantly helped people who lived alone, a group known to have a higher risk of of cardiovascular disease and death than those living with others. Single dog owners had a 33 per cent drop in the risk of death and an 11 per cent drop in the risk of myocardial infarction compared to single non-owners.
Fall said while the link between dog ownership and lower heart heart disease was clear, how dogs helped our hearts was less so.
"There might be differences between owners and non-owners already before buying a dog, which could have influenced our results, such as those people choosing to get a dog tending to be more active and of better health."
Fall said other possible factors were people who had dogs exercised more and they were happier because of the social contact.
And then there's the theory that dogs positively affect people's gut bacteria.
This was because dogs brought dirt into the home that non-dog owners didn't get exposed to and it was thought this new bacteria might be good for human health.
Republished with permission of Stuff.co.nz.