(NewsTarget) According to a recent study, dogs may be man’s best friend in more ways that previously thought.

(Not in the New Zealand newspaper)

The study, written by Dr. Deborah Wells of Queen’s University, Belfast, for the British Journal of Health Psychiatry, found that dog owners tend to suffer less from ill health, have lower cholesterol, and lower blood pressure.

Until, of course, they get a dog fine :)

... just being light hearted....

Citing a 1995 study, Dr. Wells stated that dog owners who had suffered heart attacks were 8.6 percent more likely to be alive one year following their heart attacks than patients that did not own dogs.

I definitely agree with this. Although I have not suffered a heart attack, I do agree that one look from my dog just melts away all the angst I may have had from my day...

“It is possible that dogs can directly promote our well-being by buffering us from stress,” said Dr. Wells. “The ownership of a dog can also lead to increases in physical activity and psychological human health in a more indirect manner.”

I would LOVE to know how city councils and health boards measure this up against their annual budget plan, and their analysis of health indicators.

Perhaps dog annual registration fees should go to the health board!

Dr. Aaron Katcher, emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, has found “much evidence that social support is a critical variable in the recovery from many serious biological disorders, including psychiatric illness,” during the course of his studies on human and animal interaction. MORE>>