Who Needs Drugs When You've Got a Pet?
Who Pets Can Influence and Improve Your Health?
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Have you ever noticed that you feel better when you're around your pet? It's true!!! A pet certainly a great friend. After a difficult day. Pet owners quite literally feel the love. Spending quality time with a cat, dog or other animal can have a positive impact on your mood and your health. Pets can be calming and to release your stress. Pets are social magnets: Pets, especially dogs, can help you connect with other people. "If I saw you walking down the street. I couldn't comfortably start talking to you if I didn’t know you, but l could if you had a dog," beck says. It's an acceptable interaction that otherwise wouldn't be possible." Good for mind and soul: People with pets are generally happier, more trusting and less lonely than those who don't have pets. They also visit the doctor less often for minor problems, (Lisa Fields, Michael W. Smith MD). Also pet owners are far less likely to suffer from depression than those without pets. "The benefit is especially pronounced when people are strongly attached to their pets" (Jeanie Lerche Davis, Louise Chang, MD). Stress soothers: petting your cat of dog feels good. It can lower your blood pressure. Helps your body release a relaxation hormone and cuts down on levels of a stress hormone. It also soothers your pet, says Alan Beck, ScD. |
Allergy Fighters: Pets improve the immune system and make it stronger. The old thinking was that if your family had a pet. the children were more likely to become allergic to the pet, (James E. Gern). However, a growing number of studies have suggested that kids growing up in a home with "furred animals", whenever it a cat, dog on a farm animal, will have less risk of allergies and asthma, he tells. Longevity: studies show that who own dogs live longer than people with the same heart problems who don't have dogs. Also, for the same reason pets can help to decrease blood sugar levels for diabetics, prevents strokes and improve cholesterol levels. Eases Pain: Believe it or not, pets can be the best medicine, especially when a person is dealing with chronic pain such as migraines or arthritis or even acute pain after surgery, says Dr. Becher. "Just like valium, it reduces anxiety". The less anxiety, the less pain" he says. Bibliography: Alan Beck, ScD, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University. James E. Gern, MD, a pediatrician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the journal of allergy and chronical immunology. Jeanie Lerche Davis, Louise Chang, MD. " 5 Ways Pets Can Improve Your Health" whebMD Feature Archive. Lisa Field, Michael W. Smith, MD. " 6 Ways Pets Can Improve Your Health" whebMD Feature Archive |