Dog owners live longer

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

This is the conclusion the researchers came to after analyzing the data of 3.4 million inhabitants of Sweden.

Scientists took into account information about birth, gender, age, health status, marital status and death of study participants over 12 years. Some of them were dog owners. It was not difficult to single them out from the general mass: since 2001, Sweden has introduced compulsory registration of dogs using a tattoo or a subcutaneous chip.

As a result, it was found that the probability of death of people living with dogs is 20% lower. Lonely dog owners are especially lucky: in this group, the risk of death is 33% lower, and the likelihood of cardiovascular disease, heart attack and heart failure is 8% lower.

Life with a four-legged friend is full of health benefits. Dog owners tend to be more active and less likely to suffer from high blood pressure. Lonely people are even more fortunate: except for them, there is no one to take care of the dog, so every day they just have to go for a walk with it.

Having a dog is an effective way to change your life. It can help single people or those who find it difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Tove Fall Professor of Epidemiology, Uppsala University

People also receive strong emotional support from dogs, especially in the absence of a partner or children. The dog becomes a best friend and helps to cope with stress.

However, this study has several drawbacks, as many factors were not taken into account. It is possible that the dog owners who had the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease initially had the best health. And those people who are forced to spend money on maintaining or restoring their health, often cannot afford a dog, because keeping a pet requires material and time costs. In addition, the study was carried out only among residents of Sweden, and, possibly, in other countries the result would have been different.

But every dog lover knows for himself that a pet as a whole improves the atmosphere in the house. You can get up on the wrong foot in the morning and come home from work in a bad mood in the evening. But the dog does not care about this - in any case, it will happily greet you, wagging its tail.