Animals Are Good For Your Health

By Mara M. Baun, D.N.Sc., F.A.A.N. and Nancy J. Dapper, M.P.A.

Animal lovers have always known it. Now health researchers are confirming it: animals are good for your health.

Just 10 minutes of physical interaction with a beloved pet can lower blood pressure and increase finger temperature—both clear signs of relaxation—according to a number of research studies.

Benefits to people with high blood pressure have been documented as well. A recent study showed that pets can do what medicine cannot. It involved two groups of stockbrokers who were already being treated with ACE-inhibitor therapy.

The study found significant differences in their physiological reactions to stress tests. Those with pets were about half as reactive to stressors. This study demonstrates the health effects of pets in conjunction with medication. That's significant because it's well known that this type of medication plays an important role in controlling resting blood pressure, but does not control blood pressure related to stress.

Another study of people with borderline hypertension shows equally encouraging results. Two groups were evaluated for their reactions to psychological stress tests and monitored for several days. The group with dogs in the home reduced resting blood pressure (to within normal range) and reactivity to stress, as well as ambulatory blood pressure, even while at work. The lowest blood pressure was recorded on the day participants took their dogs to work.

Shamu, the Dentist's Friend
A therapy dog can prove helpful to children undergoing potentially stressful medical and dental procedures. One study showed that a therapy dog named Casey lowered behavioral distress in two- to six-year-olds visiting a pediatric clinic. Casey simply sat on the floor of the exam room, and the children were free to pet and interact with her. Parents told the researchers that their children had "never behaved this well at the doctor's." One mother said: "I can't believe she isn't crying. She always cries, and we have to hold her down for the doctor to look in her ears." Having the children more relaxed during their examinations made diagnosis and treatment easier for the health professionals and parents alike.

Another of the studies showed that seven- to 11-year-old children who expressed fear and anxiety prior to their dental visits had significantly less behavioral distress when Shamu, a therapy dog, was present. For example, there was less crying and struggling, compared to the behavior of a similar group who were not exposed to Shamu. The dog sat on a stool and the children frequently hugged her tightly.

Since fears developed in childhood can follow one into adulthood, reducing fears through such approaches can have lifelong benefits.

Alzheimer's Helpers
Several studies on Alzheimer's patients living in special-care units revealed that residents were less agitated and expressed more socially interactive behaviors when therapy dogs were present. This proved especially true in the late afternoon or at sundown, when agitation tends to escalate. After Sadie, a golden retriever therapy dog, came to live on one unit, agitation behaviors decreased and remained lower for weeks. Sadie quickly adapted and became good friends with Bill, one of the residents. When Bill became agitated, Sadie seemed to know almost intuitively that he needed her and tried to help him become calmer.

Although the study of human/animal relationships began only about 25 years ago, many treatments and interventions involving pets and therapy animals have now been subjected to the rigors of scientific research.

As America's population ages and pressures on healthcare spending increase, the healthcare system may find the important and relatively inexpensive role of animals increasingly valuable in maintaining and improving human health. For more information on the health benefits of animals, visit www.deltasociety.org. Delta Society is an international nonprofit organization that unites people who have mental and physical disabilities and patients in healthcare facilities with professionally trained animals to help improve their health.

Dr. Baun is the Lee & Joseph D. Jamail Distinguished Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing, and Ms. Dapper is Vice President of Program Operations for Delta Society.