People in Sweden with dogs were less likely to die than their fellow citizens without dogs over a 12-year period, according to a recent study. In Sweden, there are extensive records in national registries of citizen’s medical visits as well as from national dog registries. These sources of information allowed scientists to combine data about health with data about dog guardianship.
The study, “Dog ownership and the risk of cardiovascular disease and death—a nationwide cohort study” followed 3.4 million people between the ages of 40 and 80 who had no history of cardiovascular disease to study the relationship between having a dog and cardiovascular health. The major finding of the study was that those people who had dogs were less likely to die of cardiovascular disease or from other causes than people who did not have dogs.
via Whisker Therapy