Get a dog, live longer?

NEW YORK – As a child, Dr Dhruv Kazi was obsessed with dogs. As a cardiologist and health economist, he wrote about their health benefits. But he did not get one of his own until he was in his early 40s.

In 2019, he moved to Boston to take a job as the director of the Cardiac Critical Care Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Then Covid-19 hit. Living alone and working in the intensive care unit, Dr Kazi said the first year of the pandemic was immensely isolating.

Everything changed in 2021 when he got Rumi, a high-energy, high-affection vizsla puppy. Thanks to Rumi, Dr Kazi started spending more time outside, got to know his neighbours and had a much-needed dose of positive energy and goofiness injected into his life.

“Rumi was very much crucial to keeping my sanity,” he said.

Research dating back decades has found that people who own pets, especially dogs, tend to be healthier than those who do not.

Studies show that having a pet is associated with lower blood pressure, a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and lower rates of death after a heart attack or stroke. And a large review of studies published in 2019 found that owning a dog was associated with a 24 per cent lower risk of dying from all causes over the course of 10 years.

The benefit is so striking when it comes to heart health that the American Heart Association even has a scientific statement devoted to it, declaring that dog ownership may be reasonable for reduction in cardiovascular disease risk. The organisation does not advise getting a dog for the sole purpose of heart health, though.

“Pet owners in general, but dog owners in particular, have longer, healthier lives than people who don’t have pets,” Dr Kazi said. “The correlation is very convincing. Now, the question is: ‘Is this relationship causal?’”

Some pet theories

Experts think one potential explanation for the health benefits is that people who own dogs tend to be more physically active than those who do not.

Dr Adrian Bauman, an emeritus professor of public health at the University of Sydney in Australia, published a meta-analysis in 2012. It found that most dog owners who walked their dogs met the standard exercise guidelines of 150 minutes of moderately intense physical activity a week. But only 60 per cent of owners actually walked them.

“We have to distinguish dog ownership – having a dog in your household – from dog walking,” Dr Bauman said.

In another study he conducted, there was no difference in mortality risk when dog owners and non-owners were equally active. Dr Bauman’s dog, Jed, is a cavapoo, a cross between a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and a poodle.

Other research backs up the point that having a dog does not guarantee you will have healthy habits. In fact, if your lifestyle is unhealthy, your dog’s might be as well.

Dr Tove Fall, a professor of molecular epidemiology at Uppsala University in Sweden and a former veterinarian, has conducted research showing that if a dog has Type 2 diabetes, its owner is also more likely to develop it.

“You share your home environment with your dog,” Dr Fall said. “So, if you are not living the healthiest lifestyle, maybe your dog is not doing that as well.” Dr Fall has two dogs – Totte, a labrador retriever mix, and Vega, a Dutch spaniel breed called a kooikerhondje.

Experts say another way dogs may benefit people’s health and longevity is by improving mental well-being. People who are single or live alone appear to gain the most from the companionship a pet offers.

“Dog ownership has some substantial health benefits in countering the health consequences of loneliness, of isolation,” Dr Bauman said.

Lest cat lovers feel left out, a few studies have also found that owning a cat was associated with a lower risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke, possibly by providing stress relief.

Or the health benefits of pet ownership may simply be an effect of demographics. Dog owners tend to be younger and richer than non-owners, characteristics that correspond with better health.

In one large meta-analysis, when things such as age, income and health behaviours like smoking were factored into the statistical analyses, many health benefits of dog ownership disappeared.

It is hard to tease apart whether dogs make people healthier or if healthier people are more likely to have dogs, Dr Fall said. “If you’re frail and cannot take care of yourself, you’re quite unlikely to get a puppy, right?”

Of course, pets sometimes add stress to your life. House training can be maddening, vet bills can be expensive and losing a pet companion can be devastating.

“They’re a lot of work, and they are a pretty substantial commitment of emotional and financial resources,” Dr Kazi said. But, he added, “they’re such a joy”. NYTIMES