Investigated dog owners have a longer life

Dog owners have a lower risk of dying prematurely

Dogs are not only the best friends of man, they apparently extend the life of their owners. According to a recent Swedish study, the risk of premature death due to cardiovascular disease is significantly lower among dog owners than in people without a dog. Singles in particular benefit from life with their four-legged friends.

The current study shows that "dog owners had a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease or other causes during the 12-year follow-up", reports the Swedish University of Uppsala. Dogs therefore have a very positive effect on the life expectancy of their owners. The results of the Swedish study were published in the scientific journal "Scientific Reports".

Link between dog ownership and cardiovascular health

The Swedish team of researchers has evaluated the data of more than 3.4 million Swedes with no history of cardiovascular disease and compared it with the available dog registries to check the link between dog ownership and cardiovascular health. "Scientists investigated whether registration as a dog owner could be linked to a later diagnosis of cardiovascular disease or death for any reason," the University of Uppsala reports. The age of the subjects was between 40 and 80 years.

Singles benefit especially from a dog

"One very interesting finding in our study was that dog ownership as a protective factor was particularly prominent in single persons (singles)," said Mwenya Mubanga, lead investigator and Ph.D. student at the Department of Medical Sciences and the University's Science for Life Laboratory Uppsala. From previous studies it is known that the group of singles actually has a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and deaths than people who live in a multi-person household. Possibly the dog offers in the single households a kind of substitute as important "family member".

Breed also important

Alone dog owners, according to the researchers showed a 33 percent reduced risk of premature death compared to living non-dog owners - and an eleven percent lower risk of myocardial infarction during follow-up. The researchers also found that apparently the different breeds of dogs develop a different effect here. Owners of breeders' dogs originally bred for hunting were the most protected, according to the scientists.

Causes of the connection are unclear

Although clear statistical associations have been identified in current epidemiological studies, researchers can not answer the question of whether and how dogs protect against cardiovascular disease. "We know that dog owners in general have a higher level of physical activity, which could be an explanation for the observed results," said the Swedish scientists.

Further explanations for the positive effect

But not only the increased physical activity is a possible reason for the lower risk of premature death in dog owners. "Other explanations include an increased well-being and social contacts or effects of the dog on the bacterial microbiome in the owner," explains the study director Prof. Tove Fall.

If the differences already exist?

Possibly the explanation lies also in differences, which exist already before the purchase of a dog, reports Prof. case further. For example, those who choose to keep a dog might be more active and healthy people. In principle, however, the findings of the current study are transferable to the entire Swedish population - "and probably to other European populations with a similar culture of ownership of dogs," says Case. (Fp)