Dogs Boost Heart Health, says New Study

 

According to recent research, dogs and heart health are related. That means dogs are more than our best friends.

The study says that having a pet, specifically a dog is great for improving cardiovascular health.

The research was initiated in 2013 and 2014. The scientists have taken the socioeconomic and health information of around 2,000 individuals. These people were located in Brno, Czech Republic. The data is being collected as a part of a follow-up after every five years until 2030.

Researchers collected the recent data in 2019 of over 2,000 individuals with no heart disease history. They evaluated the participants on the list of seven ideal health behaviors and factors, published by the American Heart Association.

These factors are called “Life's Simple 7” and include physical activity, blood glucose, body mass index, diet, blood pressure, smoking status, and total cholesterol

The scientists then compared the heart-related scores of the people who owned the pet with the people who didn’t. Overall, pet owners are more active physically than their counterparts. Also, they eat healthily and have healthy levels of blood sugar.

Furthermore, researchers found that no matter what is the age, gender, or education level of the pet owner is, they have better cardiovascular health than everyone else.

Previously, studies have suggested that owning a dog makes a person more physically active. Moreover, having a pet lowers stress levels, improves self-esteem, and also makes a person extrovert.

According to one of the lead authors, Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, this research shows the importance of owning a dog more than just improving physical activity. The study didn’t only include one factor, but there were many factors combined, said the author.

In the participants of the study, 42 people owned any pet; among them, 24 percent were dog owners. That might have biased the study, he claimed.

The latest study was published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings on Friday.