Study Shows That Dog Owners Tend To Live Longer, Even Those With Heart Disease

Need a reason to get a dog? Or, maybe another reason to get another dog?

Well, how about getting a dog to increase your lifespan?

Wait. Seriously?

Well, studies have shown that people with dogs actually live longer lives.

That’s right, these furry friends are not just adorable, but they seem to have a bigger impact on our lives than we might think, reported Reuters. 

Research involving over 3 million people was done by Dr. Caroline K. Kramer of the University of Toronto Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes at Mt Sinai Hospital and her team. 

In this research, it was observed that people who owned dogs were healthier in terms of better cholesterol levels, blood pressure and stress levels in comparison to dogless people. 

Why, do you ask?

Past research has shown that pets are natural stress relievers. They are the instant cure for loneliness or stress-related problems that we might have as they are always there to offer us company and comfort. 

Although past studies showed that owning dogs could bring health benefits, there was no study done to draw a direct link between having a dog and the age people live up to. 

This was when Kramer decided to look back at more past studies to draw some results.

With her team, they found out that people that owned dogs were 24% less likely to die in the upcoming 10 years as compared to people without dogs.

It was also found that people with heart problems greatly benefited from owning a dog as it reduced their risk of dying by about 65%. 

Seeing this dog dancing would have already increased your lifespan by five seconds, but anyways.

People Exercise & Move More While Caring For Them

The reason is pretty simple. Dogs are energetic creatures that require energy to look after so people exercise and move about more while caring for them. 

Not convinced? 

Well, Dr Tove Fall from Uppsala University in Sweden and her team looked at 181,696 people who suffered from a heart attack and 154,617 people who had a stroke within the period of 2001 – 2012. 

In their study, they found out that people with a dog had a 33% lower risk of getting another heart attack and 27% lower risk of getting another stroke. 

Wow. With all these health benefits, and with how cute dogs are, shouldn’t everyone get one? 

Dr. Dhruv S. Kazi of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston agrees, stating that clinicians should discuss pet adoption with their patients who suffer from heart problems.

Getting A Dog Is A Huge Responsibility 

Well, while it has definitely crossed most of our minds to get a dog, we should still keep in mind that getting a dog is a big responsibility and we should only get one if we can afford to give it time and love.

So, no matter how good the health benefits of getting a dog is, be sure to think twice or you might end up getting one giving it a ruff life.

Oh, by the way, cats don’t have the same effect. We’ve a cat in the featured image just because it’s cute.