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Introduction
A person’s health and life expectancy depend on the heart’s condition, a vital organ in our body. Heart disease can be prevented by staying active, eating a nutritious diet, walking outside, getting adequate sleep, and giving up unhealthy habits. However, having a pet significantly impacts heart health and is another important aspect of cardiac care. So keeping a pet is an excellent method of maintaining good heart health. Owning a dog has been linked to lower cardiovascular risk, and is frequently related to decreased blood pressure, an improved lipid profile, and reduced sympathetic responses to stress. There are conflicting findings in the evidence connecting dog ownership and mortality. Although the relationship between dog ownership and mortality has been studied, an improvement in survival has been shown when a dog is a part of the household.
Benefits of Pet Ownership
Since the American Heart Association recommends that people exercise for at least 30 minutes every day, five days a week, the increase in exercise or physical activity is the most likely explanation for the low prevalence of high blood pressure among pet owners. With pets around, much physical work was involved, such as bathing, feeding, walking the animals, and cleaning their cages and aquariums. Regular exercise helps a pet owner’s heart function better and pump blood to the body. A healthy heart pumps blood more efficiently, lessening the arteries’ strain and lowering blood pressure. It is believed that having pets indirectly motivates pet owners to work out more, improving their cardiovascular health.
According to estimations by Maugeri et al., 42% of the participants had a pet of some kind, with 24.3% having a dog and 17.9% having another animal (2019). Pet owners, specifically dog owners, were more likely to report optimum levels of physical activity, diet, blood glucose, and smoking than non-pet owners (median, 10; interquartile range, 3 vs. median, 9; interquartile range, 3; P=0.006). This led to higher CVH scores. Dog owners were more likely to report engaging in recommended levels of physical activity and diet than owners of other pets. Similar findings were seen when comparing dog owners vs. non-dog owners. After adjusting for confounders, dog owners had higher CVH scores than non-pet owners, other pet owners, and non-dog owners (=0.342; SE=0.122; P=0.005, =0.309; SE=0.151; P=0.041).
It has been demonstrated that owning a dog lowers blood pressure. According to the American Heart Association (2019), dog owners are 54% more likely to meet the recommended levels of physical activity than the average person without a pet. As a result, pets make their owners more physically active, which lowers the likelihood that they may develop hypertension. Maugeri et al. (2019) reported that blood pressure in hypertensive individuals with dogs recovered to normal in many cases without using antihypertensive medications. To promote physical activity and lower blood pressure, dog owners are encouraged to move around more outside.
Being a dog owner is an excellent method to enhance mental health, as poor mental health is a significant risk factor for heart attacks. The hormones endorphins, oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin, known as natural antidepressants, rise when people communicate with animals, and the stress hormone cortisol is also reduced. Additionally, having a pet requires constant attention, which diverts attention from issues and lonely thoughts and prevents depression-inducing emotions like hopelessness and indifference. As a result, having pets makes people’s life happier, more satisfying, and prosperous, where stress is reduced. Additionally, having a pet gives a person with a mental illness a strong sense of ontological stability, dramatically speeding up the progression of diseases, including depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and PTSD. Having a dog is frequently linked to better mental health, which is vital for cardiac treatment.
Fewer health issues over time are associated with increased physical activity. Owning a dog can significantly improve a person’s physical health because dogs need to be walked daily. Health professionals claim that moderate exercise for at least 20 minutes daily is required to prevent various chronic ailments, including heart disease and high blood pressure (Mein & Grant, 2018). People who own dogs are less likely to get cardiovascular disease than non-dog owners because most dogs spend at least ten minutes a day walking and playing with their pets. A dog can give people the inspiration they need to go for a walk if they are too lazy to go to the gym or find it challenging to keep to a demanding fitness schedule. The best part is that dog owners do not consider walking a workout because they know that their pets require daily walks for mental and physical stimulation.
Even those who did not own dogs, including those who did not acknowledge other pets, displayed better cardiovascular health (CVH), an association mediated by increased physical activity and a healthier diet. Although the beneficial relationship between owning a dog and engaging in physical activity has been highlighted, more research needs to be done on the relationship between pet ownership and eating habits. It is yet to be determined how having a pet may help with eating healthily.
Dog ownership, in particular, is linked to higher levels of physical activity, social support, and better recovery from catastrophic cardiovascular events. Pet ownership is connected to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in the general US population, according to a theory put out by Krittanawong et al. (2020). The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes, is inversely correlated with dog ownership in those without CVD. Ownership of a dog is linked to a higher survival rate in people with coronary artery disease.
Lastly, having a pet can lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, which is also good for the heart. Being in charge of feeding your pet encourages you to develop a regular eating schedule for yourself, which can help prevent insulin resistance and excessive triglyceride levels. According to Maugeri et al. (2019), altering one’s diet and upping physical activity can result in weight loss, which is one of the best strategies to keep cholesterol levels under control. Dog owners then alter their diets in favor of healthy options, whether consciously or unconsciously, which benefits them on both levels. Therefore, having pets improves nutrition and lowers cholesterol and triglyceride levels, improving heart health.
Conclusion
In conclusion, pet owners claim that pets eventually transform from being amusing creatures into actual family members who, like other family members, impact people’s physical and mental well-being. Getting a dog is a terrific way to improve your heart health and lower your blood pressure, stress, cholesterol, and triglycerides. Numerous pieces of research back up the notion that getting a pet may be an excellent way to boost cardiovascular health. The advantages of owning a pet exceed the potential added responsibilities by a wide margin. Having a pet may lower one’s risk of dying from any cause, but heart disease is hazardous. Additionally, some research findings suggest that owning a pet may reduce the chance of getting hypertension and enhance blood pressure control in people who already have the condition. Additionally, evidence indicates that owning a pet may improve a patient’s prognosis following a myocardial infarction or stroke. Ownership of pets is one of the most significant cardioprotective methods because it reduces sympathetic nervous system activity.
References
American Heart Association. (2019). Can your pet help you be healthier? American Heart Association. Web.
Krittanawong, C., Kumar, A., Wang, Z., Jneid, H., Virani, S. S., & Levine, G. N. (2020). Pet Ownership and Cardiovascular Health in the US General Population. The American Journal of Cardiology, 125(8), 1158–1161. Web.
Maugeri, A., Medina-Inojosa, J. R., Kunzova, S., Barchitta, M., Agodi, A., Vinciguerra, M., & Lopez-Jimenez, F. (2019). Dog Ownership and Cardiovascular Health: Results From the Kardiovize 2030 Project. Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes, 3(3), 268–275. Web.
Mein, G., & Grant, R. (2018). A cross-sectional exploratory analysis between pet ownership, sleep, exercise, health and neighborhood perceptions: the Whitehall II cohort study. BMC Geriatrics, 18(1). Web.
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