Being Single Can Kill You. Can Your Pet Help Keep You Healthy?

Psychologists have known for some time that human companionship is a good antidote for stress. Friends and close relatives can ease loneliness and depression, fears and anxieties. We know too, that the benefits of close relationships are not just psychological--they are physiological as well. Married people (not short term sexual relationships), for example have a lower premature death rates than single people--so much for the currently prevailing theory that single people are happier. For every married man under sixty-five who dies of lung cancer, two divorced man under sixty-five succumb to this disease.The same ratio applies to deaths from strokes.
For heart disease, which kills about a million people each year, the data are even more striking. Depending on the age group, the death rate from heart disease is as much as two to five times among the divorced, the single, and the widowed than among the married. Loneliness, it seems, may hurt the heart as much as too many tanning/health spas, steaks or cigarettes. One researcher has noted that the risk of premature mortality for divorced non-smokers is approximately the same as for married people who smoke a pack a day.
And, researchers now know that human companionship isn't the only kind that helps to keep people healthy. Pets too, can improve our psychological and physical health. Most dog or cat owners know that they gain pleasure from their pets, but only recently has that pleasure been connected to stress reduction--a finding that has also proved useful in the treatment of alcohol and other drug dependency. A pet is a tie for someone who may lack supportive, affectionate, human bonds. Pets can also be a source of companionship, acting to relieve negative feelings, such as anxiety and grief. Even for people who have generally satisfying human relationships and do not suffer from loneliness, pets can be beneficial. Unlike people, pets don't criticize, nag, or make judgements. Again, unlike many people, they know what love is and therefore are always loving.
A number of research studies have confirmed the relationship between pets and human stress reduction. English researchers gave cage birds to twelve pensioners and plants to another group. After three months, the health of the pet owners showed more improvement than did that of the plant owners. In another study, researchers studied the effects of animals on human blood pressure. They knew that talking is associated with a sharp rise in blood pressure, and wondered how the presence of a pet would influence cardiovascular response to speech. Thirty-six children aged nine to sixteen participated in the experiment. Each child was asked to read from a book of children's poetry with and without the presence of a unfamiliar (but friendly) dog in the room. The child's blood pressure was taken at various times during the experiment, and results showed that the presence of the dog was associated with lower blood pressure.
A research study in which heart patients were the subjects seems to confirm the healthful effects of pet ownership Ninety-six patients who had been admitted to a hospital for severe coronary problems (either heart attacks or angina pectoris )participated in the experiment. One year after discharge from the hospital, surviving patients were contacted. Fourteen had died within the year. Eleven of those did not own pets. Among the seventy-eight surviving patients, fifty owned pets. In all 28 percent of the patients who did not own  pets had died within the year, compared with only 3 percent of the patients who did own pets. There was no significant survival difference between male and female patients. The researchers who conducted this study raise an important question. What os it about pet ownership that helps people? Perhaps personality differences between pet owners and non-pet owners are really responsible for the higher survival rates of pet owners. Interestingly, though, they could find "no differences in measures of tension, anxiety, depression, confusion, vigour, or fatigue between pet owners and non-owners
We don't know a;; the reasons why pet ownership is healthful, but the research done to date suggests several conclusions: Pets provide companionship that may compensate for inadequate human relationships. By giving people something to  care for, pats add purpose to life and can enhance self-image. Touching pets is a soothing activity and in itself sometimes seems to decrease anxiety Pets keep their owners busy and ENSURE THE CONTINUANCE OF A DAILY ROUTINE. For retired or chronically ill people, this can help prevent feelings of emptiness. Pets provide a focus of attention, which may keep people from dwelling on worries and unpleasant thoughts. Finally, dogs require walking , a healthful exercise for most people (may help to prevent over exertion an a "health" spa); and owning a dog may help feel safer in their homes ar neighbourhoods.