People are living longer in good health today than has ever been true throughout recorded history. Even so, a lot of people check out early. Some of the shortening of lifespan is due to choices that people make.
- Some people choose to smoke tobacco
- Some choose to drink alcohol to excess
- Some abuse addictive painkillers
- Some drive when they shouldn’t
It would be a pretty dull life if people avoided any behavior that increased their risk of death by even a little bit.
- People would never get into an automobile.
- They would never ride bicycles on a street that cars and trucks also used
- They wouldn’t swim or surf in the ocean.
- They would never go skiing or snowboarding
- They would never fly in an airplane
- They would never cruise on a ship
One must balance the risks of an activity against the benefits that might be gained from engaging in it. A life worth living is a benefit much to be desired. To live such a life, one must take some chances.
Just as there are life choices that a person could make that would shorten their life, there are choices that could lengthen it. Clearly avoiding life-shorteners such as smoking, excessive drinking, and addictive drugs will at least contribute to a nominal lifespan, if not a longer one than usual. That’s good, but more can be done. Lifestyle choices can be made that extend lifespan beyond what is normal. Most people are aware of what many of these choices are:
- Eat a balanced, nutritious diet, but push away from the table when you are about 80% full.
- Get regular exercise
- Get enough sleep
- Avoid chronic stress
- Cultivate supportive social relationships
None of these suggestions should be a surprise. There is broad agreement on the importance of each one of them. However, there is one more that may come as a surprise to you:
Get a dog.
Even this should not come as a complete surprise. Studies conducted over many years have found a positive association between pet ownership, and more specifically, dog ownership, with a reduction in cardiovascular risk. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.
Back in 2013 the American Heart Association stated that numerous studies have shown beneficial effects from pet ownership, particularly ownership of dogs.
- Increased physical activity
- Favorable lipid profiles
- Lower systemic blood pressure
- Improved autonomic tone
- Diminished sympathetic responses to stress
- Improved survival after an acute coronary syndrome
People who walk their dogs are going to gain the beneficial effect of increased physical activity while those who don’t will not. All that benefit will go to the professional dog walker that they hire instead. Even people who walk regularly will probably benefit from owning a dog. With a dog they will probably take longer and more frequent walks than they otherwise would.
Aside from encouraging their owners to get out and exercise more, the emotional support that a dog gives its owner can help to improve the owner’s lipid profiles, lower their blood pressure, improve autonomic tone, and help reduce stress levels. A dog can even warn of danger, or it can get help when help is needed.
A paper appeared recently in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes titled Dog Ownership and Survival. Researchers performed a systematic review of studies that occurred between 1950 and May 24, 2019. Over 3,800,000 subjects participated. Over the span of the study, over 500,000 cardiac events were recorded. Dog ownership was associated with a 24% risk reduction in all cause mortality, compared to non-dog owners. People with prior coronary events benefited even more from living in a home with a dog. For them, the risk reduction was 35%. Overall, when looking only at cardiovascular mortality, dog owners had 31% lower risk of death than non-dog owners.
What does this mean? There is a positive association between dog ownership and lower risk of death over the long term. This is not claiming that dog ownership causes longer life, but the fact that such a significant reduction in mortality occurred in so many people is suggestive. It is probably wise for older people living alone to have a dog for a companion. Other people could benefit too. Having a friend can be a real life extender, and it’s not for nothing that for a very long time a dog has been called a man’s best friend.
BIO:
Allen G. Taylor is a 40-year veteran of the computer industry and the author of over 40 books, including Develop Microsoft HoloLens Apps Now, Get Fit with Apple Watch, Cruise for Free, SQL For Dummies, 9thEdition, Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies, Database Development For Dummies, Access Power Programming with VBA, and SQL All-In-One For Dummies, Third Edition. He lectures internationally on astronomy, databases, innovation, and entrepreneurship. He also teaches database development and Crystal Reports through a leading online education provider. For the latest news on Allen’s activities, check out his blog at wwwallengtaylor.com or contact him at allen.taylor@ieee.org.