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👋 Pet A Dog = Extend Your Life

We looked at the science. It checks out.

August 10, 2023

In Today’s Email:

  • Mankind’s Best Friend: We looked at the science behind our pets and it’s pretty unbelievable.

  • “The Squeeze” aka The Internet’s Best Dog News in 60 seconds.

  • The Last Laugh: What we’re laughing with. Not at.

Petting a Dog Solves Everything? Yes. But there’s more…

Just petting a dog, ANY dog, is scientifically proven to boost your health, according to a recent article via NPR.

Nancy Gee, a professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Human-Animal Interaction at Virginia Commonwealth University agrees, "I think it is safe to say that animals are beneficial to our mental and physical health.”

Research on the health benefits of human interactions with animals – especially with dogs – has exploded in recent years, thanks to funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Waltham PetCare Science Institute. Which makes sense. Just look at that picture of that lovely little smushed face. Aren’t you immediately happier looking at it?

And these benefits don’t just extend to humans, but to our pets as well.

A number of recent studies have looked into how short-term interactions between dogs and humans affect levels of cortisol (stress) and oxytocin (those feel-good feelings) in both participants.

Gee says evidence is accumulating that levels of the stress hormone cortisol drop in people after just 5 to 20 minutes spent interacting with dogs — even if it's not their pet. "Also, we see increases in oxytocin, that feel-good kind of bonding hormone," she says.

And it's not just humans that benefit from these brief exchanges. "What I love about this research is that it's a two-way street," Gee says. "We see the same thing in the dogs, so the dogs' oxytocin also increases when they interact with a human."

And guess what? We discovered there are way more health benefits to having a dog.

So, we decided to look at some of those published studies on how pets really help us live better, healthier lives, and we summarized the findings below:

Study: Short-Term Interaction between Dogs and Their Owners: Effects on Oxytocin, Cortisol, Insulin and Heart Rate — An Exploratory Study

Study can be found here.

The exploratory study aimed to investigate the effects of short-term interaction between dogs and their owners on oxytocin release and related physiological responses. The main findings of the study are as follows:

  1. Owners who interacted with their dogs showed a significant increase in oxytocin levels, whereas control participants did not exhibit this increase. Both owners and controls experienced decreased cortisol and insulin levels.

  2. Heart rate decreased significantly in the owners after the interaction, possibly indicating a mild anti-stress effect mediated by oxytocin released during the interaction.

  3. The rise in oxytocin levels in both dogs and owners during interaction is likely due to stroking and petting by the owners. Sensory stimulation, similar to touch and massage, is known to increase oxytocin levels in various species.

  4. Cortisol levels in dogs increased during the interaction, possibly due to behavioral activation, which may have been initiated by the interaction. This increase could also reflect an increase in locomotor activity.

  5. The study suggests that interaction with dogs may induce oxytocin-mediated effects that contribute to decreased sympathetic nervous system activity and mild anti-stress effects in owners.

Conclusion: Overall, the study suggests that short-term interaction between dogs and their owners can lead to oxytocin release and related physiological changes, highlighting the potential positive effects of human-animal interaction on both dogs and their owners.

Study: Dog ownership and the risk of cardiovascular disease and death – a nationwide cohort study

Study can be found here.

This study aimed to investigate the association between dog ownership and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk as well as all-cause mortality. The study analyzed a large dataset of over 3 million individuals and found the following key findings:

  1. Dog ownership was linked to a lower risk of incident cardiovascular disease in single-person households and to lower cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in the general population.

  2. Owning hunting dog breeds was associated with reduced CVD risk, and ownership of all purebred dog breeds was linked to lower all-cause mortality.

  3. The study suggests that dog ownership might have direct effects on health outcomes, possibly by alleviating psychosocial stress factors like social isolation, depression, and loneliness. Dog owners were found to have lower stress responses and engage in more physical activity.

  4. Individuals in single-person households seemed to benefit the most from dog ownership, especially in terms of protection from cardiovascular disease.

Conclusion: Overall, the study provides substantial evidence suggesting that owning a dog may be associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and improved survival rates, particularly in single-person households.

Study: Early Exposure to Dogs and Farm Animals and the Risk of Childhood Asthma

Study can be found here.

In this comprehensive cohort study, it was found that exposure to dogs and/or farm animals during a child's first year of life is associated with a reduced risk of childhood asthma by the age of 6 years.

  1. Children exposed to dogs and/or farm animals during their first year of life have a lower risk of developing childhood asthma by age 6, regardless of parental asthma history or birth order.

  2. Earlier research on the link between dog exposure and asthma has yielded conflicting results. This study, based on a large sample size and using registry-based data, confirms the inverse association between early dog exposure and subsequent asthma diagnosis.

  3. The study supports the hygiene hypothesis, which suggests that early exposure to microbes, such as those found in dogs and farm animals, can promote a more favorable maturation of the immune system and decrease the risk of allergy-related asthma in school-aged children.

  4. Despite limitations, the study's findings provide important insights into the role of early animal exposure in reducing the risk of childhood asthma, supporting the idea that such exposure can positively impact immune system development and subsequent respiratory health.

Conclusion: Animal exposure during early childhood may have a significant impact on reducing the incidence of asthma and highlights the potential benefits of early interactions with pets and farm animals.

The above studies are just a few examples of the hundreds of relatively recent studies that have been performed. And there’s good news if you want to see some of the others.

Get Healthy, Get a Dog

If you’re someone that loves the science behind your health as it relates to your pet, the geniuses at Harvard Medical School (HMS) have compiled hundreds of research studies from around the world that document the physical and psychological benefits of being a pet parent. From lower cholesterol and improved cardiovascular health to weight loss, companionship, defense against depression, and longer lifespans, Get Healthy, Get a Dog is a collection that provides a complete scientific picture to the benefits of having a pet.

Conclusion

  1. Dogs make you (and your friends and family) happier.

  2. Dogs make you (and your friends and family) healthier.

  3. Dogs reduce your risk of a lot of bad health stuff.

I wonder if the same is true for cats…

“The Squeeze”: Dog News In 60 Seconds

Today’s Last Laugh:

Giddy up…