Pets are not only great friends.
They are good for our health.
Adapted from the Reader's Digest
Pets make you less lonely
Loneliness has been associated with heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and other negative results, but older adults who owned pets were 36 percent less likely to say they were lonely than those who didn’t have a pet, according to a study published in Aging & Mental Health.
Pets make you less stressed
A small Swedish study found that female volunteers had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol 15 to 30 minutes after petting a dog. Having your own dog could give you even more benefits. Participants who owned dogs had increased levels of the happy hormone oxytocin between one and five minutes later, and their heart rates were lower up to an hour later.
Pets protect your heart
Owning a cat could lower your risk of dying from heart disease, a study in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Neurology reports. The researchers found that those who said they had owned a cat at some point in their lives had a lower risk of dying of a heart attack during the 20-year study than those who had never owned one. Cats might help relax people during stress, or cat owners might tend to have traits that make them less at-risk, the study authors say.
Pets help keep your brain sharp
Research published in Anthrozoös found that older adults who owned cats or dogs had better executive function (the skills you need to pay attention, remember details, and use past experience to decide how to act) than those who didn’t own a pet.
Pets encourage you to get more exercise
Of course your dog needs walks, but that stroll is good for your health too. A Michigan State University study found that one of the benefits of owning a pet are that people who own dogs exercise about half an hour more per week than those who don’t live with a dog.
Pets ease your pain
Spending time with your pet might help keep you off pain medicines. A study in Anthrozoös found that adults who spent five to 15 minutes with a dog after joint replacement surgery used less pain medication than those who didn’t have animal-assisted therapy.
Pets make your kids less likely to have allergies
Babies with pets in the house are less likely to develop allergies later in life, according to a study in Clinical & Experimental Allergy. The study found that 18-year-olds who’d had a cat or dog in the family when they were less than a year old were about half as likely to be allergic to that animal as those who didn’t have an animal in the house.
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source (fonte): www.rd.com
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