Pets play a very important role in the lives of many people. Besides dogs who are trained for helping blind or sick people, pets are very good therapists. Also, they are excellent companions and they can easily improve the quality of our lives.
But what’s their impact on our health?
It seems that pets can improve the health of our hearts by lowering our arterial blood pressure during difficult and stressful moments. In a study realized a few years ago, the blood pressure of people who owned and didn’t own a pet was observed and compared.
They were put through a stressful situation, having to solve really difficult math problems. At the end of the study, people who had an animal by their side had a normal pulse, unlike those who didn’t own a pet. In addition to that, they also made fewer mistakes in the test than the others.
The scientists have noticed that the relationship between a person and his pet can reduce his stress level and help him be a lot more relaxed and happy. Obviously, the same thing can result from a healthy relationship with friends and family, but the difference is that this kind of relationships can also cause stress, while an animal is very unlikely to cause such problems.
It also seems that the presence of a pet in our lives can also help us make friends more easily, because pets reduce the feeling of isolation and loneliness. For example, if you take your dog for a walk it’s more likely to interact with people than it would be if you went out alone.
Another great thing about animals is that kids who grow up with a pet are less likely to suffer from anxiety in the future. If a kid doesn’t have any brothers or sisters, studies show that a dog, for example, will help him be more friendly, sociable and have a higher self-esteem.
Scientists had also used pets as temporary companions for kids who suffered from mental illnesses and for older, ill people. The results have showed that pets helped to reduce pain and stress for elderly people, and they also increased the level of concentration of kids who suffered from autism.