There is a famous meaningful phrase: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”I have recently come across such an extraordinary claim made by Beth Frates: "Pet owners are less likely to die.” Frates is a lifestyle physician and also a good psychologist at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and her surprising statement appeared in a Harvard Magazine article. Everyone, of course, dies. But is it possible that owning a pet adds years to your life?
Pets offer love, companionship and even exercise if you’ve got a dog that needs to get outdoors every day. They're family, no doubt about it, but can they actually help extend your life? Beth Frates' claim was based on a reputable source—a peer-reviewed paper in the American Heart Association journal, Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. In it, a research team headed by Caroline Kramer of the University of Toronto reported that dog ownership is associated with a whopping 24 percent decrease in mortality rates.
Does it sound too good to be true?
The idea that adopting a puppy will help you live longer is appealing-but did the results of the study really meet the saying “extraordinary evidence”? The research was a meta-analysis of studies on the association between dog ownership and death rates and studies comparing the death rates of dog owners and non-owners.
The differences between dog-owners and non-owners
In a study of 22,000 pet owners and 19,000 non-owners by the Rand Corporation, pet owners tended to be younger, wealthier, and more educated than non-pet owners. Pet owners were also more likely to be married, have children, own their own home and have better general health.
Once the researchers plugged these variables into their analysis, the presumed benefits of pet ownership on physical health lent them to bright conclusions.
University of California, Riverside health researchers Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin analyzed data collected from an 80-year study of 1,500 people. The study, initiated in 1921 by psychologist Lewis Terman, is one of the few long-term studies that follow people from their childhood onward.
Subjects in their 60s were asked detailed questions about how often they played with pets. After fourteen years, researchers analyzed mortality data. Results suggest that interacting with pets quite played a role in the participants’ likelihood of surviving, or, if not so, at least in their wish of experiencing a happy,long life.
From other studies between 1950 and May 2019, they found(with proof) that dog owners live longer than those without a dog. The benefit was greatest for those who had a history of heart attack and there was a 65% reduced risk of mortality.
The benefits of animal companionship (especially dogs) on our health
Certainly interacting with animals has been found to improve quality of life. Animal-assisted therapy programs that use pets as mascots or therapy animals are widely implemented in hospitals and nursing homes and have been shown to improve depression and loneliness.
Interacting with dogs can boost your production of “happy hormones” such as oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine. This can lead to a greater sense of well-being and help lower the level of the stress hormone, cortisol. Studies show that people who walk their dogs get significantly more exercise than those who don’t. And there’s a bonus: Our pets can also help us feel less social anxiety and interact more with other humans. Maybe that’s why dog owners report less loneliness, depression and social isolation.
In Japan, where concerns about allergic reactions and bites have kept nursing homes from employing live pets, robotic therapy animals have been substituted with much success. In particular, Paro, a robotic seal with artificial fur and a lovable face, has been used in several countries, including Japan, Denmark, Sweden, Italy and the United States.
Scientists concluded that pets supply the continuous need of affection, friendship and empathy a person needs, improving their mental health and making them feel more relieved. And, as we all know, less stress involves more happiness and longer lives.
So, if you want a really long life, make place for as many pets as possible!:
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