Health Benefits of Pets Most households in the United States have at least one pet. Why do people have pets? There are many reasons. Some of the health benefits of pets are listed below. Pets can decrease your: Blood pressure Cholesterol levels Triglyceride levels Feelings of loneliness Pets can increase your: Opportunities for exercise and outdoor activities Opportunities for socialization Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 Go to Small Text

At the November 2005 American Heart Association meeting, a relatively small study reported the value of having dogs in an environment that most would consider unthinkable -- the hospital.

Seventy-six heart failure patients at UCLA between the ages of 18 and 80 were randomly assigned to one of three groups: those receiving a visit from a dog and volunteer (26 patients), those receiving a visit from a volunteer alone (25) and those receiving no visit at all (25).

Each visit from a dog lasted 12 minutes, during which time the dog would sit next to a chair or lie next to the patient on the bed, with its head two feet from the patient's head. The patient could then pet and/or talk to the dog. 

Anxiety scores fell 24 percent for patients who received a visit from the dog team. Only 10 percent of the patients who were visited by a human volunteer experienced a drop in their anxiety scores. The scores for patients who received usual care and no visit were unchanged.

Improvements in levels of the stress hormones and heart chamber pressures, which are important for congestive heart failure patients, also were noted.

Why does dog therapy work?

According to Dog-Play Web site, “Visiting dogs can help people feel less lonely, and less depressed. Visits from dogs can provide a welcome change from routine, or the renewal of old friendships. People become more active and responsive both during and after visiting with animals. Dogs have a way of not only breaking the ice between humans, but seem to make the human feel more human; that is have feelings of warmth, gratitude, and friendship.”

Pets often make it easier for two strangers to talk. Dogs give people a common interest and provide a focus for conversation. Some patients are separated from their pets and miss the casual acceptance offered by their pets. Also, dogs pay little attention to age or physical ability and accept people as they are.

Benefits continue even after patients receive a visit from the pet team. Patients create memories of the visit and remember earlier experiences with pets. These memories can be shared by the patient.

Obviously, not all people like dogs. Thus, not all patients benefit from contact with pets. People who do not like dogs probably would not have a good response to a hospital visit from a dog. These patients should not receive visits from dogs.

Some dogs, like some people, are unfit for pet therapy. These dogs should not be around humans.

So, what is the bottom line?

Dogs have been shown to improve the quality and duration of humans. They now have been shown to benefit very ill patients in the hospital. 

Dogs are not for everyone. But for many people, they are an important strategy in healthy aging. Owning and caring for a pet and receiving a hospital visit from a therapy dog can be beneficial.

Additional Online Resources outside MUSCHealth.com:
(MedlinePlus, is an excellent source of health information from the world's largest medical library, the National Library of Medicine. Health professionals and consumers alike can depend on it for information that is authoritative and up to date. MedlinePlus has extensive information from the National Institutes of Health and other trusted sources on over 650 diseases and conditions.)

Please note that by searching MEDLINEPLUS you will be leaving the MUSChealth.com web