A pet is good for company, but it may also be good for your heart. A new study has found that after a heart attack, pet owners have healthier hearts than "pet-less" owners.
Dr Erika Friedmann and colleagues from the Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, compared the heart rate variability of 102 heart attack patients. These patients had all suffered a heart attack in the last two years. Included in the group were 35 patients who owned a pet.
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The results were published in The American Journal of Cardiology.
Truly a man's best friend
Measuring heart rate variability is a way to assess the heart's ability to handle stress. If this rate is reduced, then the person will have a higher risk of heart disease and death.
Friedmann's team came to the conclusion that pet owners, especially dog-owners, had higher heart rate variability measures than non-owners.
In the past it has been found that depressed people have lower heart rate variability than people without depression, but this did not explain Friedmann's findings.
A "cute" observation
According to Dr Richard Stein from the American Heart Association, there might be other factors at play such as psychological factors or exercise that people get from walking their dog.
Stein says that the study is a "cute observation," but, he warns, much more research is needed before the heart association advises heart attack patients to rush out and buy a pet. – (Health24)
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