Mary Allen
A dog is considered a “man’s best friend” and is always close to its owner. But that’s not all: a study published in the scientific journal Nature now also shows that our four-legged friends also have a positive effect on our health and prolong life.
Study: Dog Owners Live Longer
For twelve years, Swedish researchers at Uppsala University compared data on 3.4 million Swedes aged 40 to 80 with a list of registered dog owners. Result: Dogs definitely have a positive effect on the lifespan of the owner and reduce the risk of disease, according to research.
Lonely people especially benefit from their four-legged friends, the researchers said: the risk of death in the study was one-third lower for them than for those who lived alone without a dog. First of all, fatal cardiovascular diseases were much less common in dog owners.
Dog Owners Keep Moving
One of the health benefits of dogs is that the animals are constantly in need of exercise. It keeps people moving, breathing fresh air, and staying fit.
But walking is not the only positive effect – the social contacts that dog owners make during walking also improve overall well-being and reduce the risk of depression and undue stress. All of these factors ultimately have a positive effect on our hearts and make them beat longer.