Dogs are able to identify different pathologies and support patients from a physical and psychological point of view. Science tells us …
Our dogs manage to make us feel better. They reduce stress, diagnose diseases and keep us healthy. Here are 10 benefits that Pets have on our health, according to scientific studies.
Parkinson’s flashes
Among the diseases that the smell of dogs can identify there is Parkinson’s disease. In a recent study, Lisa Holt and Samuel Johnston (USA) test 23 trained dogs specifically: they identified with accuracy of almost 90% the shirts of the sick or tampons passed on their skin, detecting the substances related to the disease present in the sebum.
Hypertension under control
Some studies indicate that having a PET lowers the risk of developing hypertension and improves pressure control in hypertensive. At the State University of New York in Buffalo they did a test on 48 hypertensive patients, treated with the same drug for hypertension. Some have had a dog foster care: subjected to stress, their response (increase in beat and pressure) was less.
Prevention allergies
Contact with pets and farm in the early years seems to reduce the risk of developing allergies and asthma.
Help against diabetes
Alert dogs for diabetics are able to recognize, by smelling their breath, a hyper or hypoglycaemic crisis.
Autism
Among the studies on Autistic spectrum disorders: The team of Federica Pirrone, University of Milan, coordinated a research based on reading sessions for children with or without dogs: in the first case, the children participated more and were more motivated to read at home.
Epilepsy
Medical alert dogs can also supporting people various pathologies. For example, they can alert the arrival of epileptic crisis (from body movements, smell, other signals) and are trained to react: calling help, activating an alarm or changing the patient’s position.
Heart problems
There are indications that the possession of an animal, and in particular of a dog, reduces the cardiovascular risk: For example, the American Hearth Association said it, in an analysis made in 2013 on the basis of pressure studies, cholesterol levels and triglycerides, obesity …
Support for many disabilities
Nasistence dogs, like guiding dogs for blind, support people with physical or mental disabilities. As Maggie O’haire points out, “they can help an blind person to exercise more, increase the safety of those who have a loss of hearing, increase the independence of those who have motor disability”.
Aphasia
Patients suffering from aphasia, the loss of linguistic skills after brain damage, can “practice” communication with a dog, which It can understand simple and even non -verbal commands.
Reduce overweight
Those who have a dog tend to go out and walk more than those who do not have it. A British study conducted on 700 participants, for example, calculated that those with a dog walked for 300 minutes a week on average, about 200 more than the others. And we know how much the movement is recommended to maintain health and reduce overweight and obesity.
