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October 6, 2008 |
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We can judge the heart of a man
by his treatment
Published
as a service for the residents of and visitors to the Dadeland neighborhood.
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The health benefits of pets
Pets are more common in households with children, yet there are more pets than children in American households. There are more than 51 million dogs, 56 million cats, 45 million birds, 75 million small mammals and reptiles, and uncounted millions of aquarium fish. It is important to assess whether these populations have any beneficial impact on physical, social, and psychological health. Throughout history animals have played a significant role in human customs, legends, and religions. Primitive people found that human-animal relationships were important to their very survival, and pet keeping was common in hunter-gatherer societies. In our own time, the great increase in pet ownership may reflect a largely urban population’s often unsatisfied need for intimacy, nurturance, and contact with nature. However, it is impossible to determine when animals first were used specifically to promote physical and psychological health. The use of horseback riding for people with serious disabilities has been reported for centuries. In 1792, animals were incorporated into the treatment for mental patients at the York Retreat, England, as part of an enlightened approach attempting to reduce the use of harsh drugs and restraints. The first suggested use of animals in a therapeutic setting in the United States was in 1919 at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D. C., when Superintendent Dr. W.A. White received a letter from Secretary of the Interior F.K. Lane suggesting the use of dogs as companions for the psychiatric hospital’s resident patients. Following this, the earliest extensive use of companion animals in the United States occurred from 1944 to 1945 at an Army Air Corps Convalescent Hospital at Pawling, New York. Patients recovering from war experiences were encouraged to work at the hospital’s farm with hogs, cattle, horses, and poultry. After the war, modest efforts began in using animals in outpatient psychotherapy. During the 1970s, numerous case studies of animals facilitating therapy with children and senior citizens were reported. The role of pets in cardiovascular health The role of social support in cardiovascular health provides a rational framework for studying the possible benefits of pets beyond mere enjoyment and affection. Since psychological factors can elicit strong and immediate responses from the cardiovascular system, many studies are attempting to determine whether such influences ultimately affect the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. The description of a “coronary-prone behavior pattern,” or Type A behavior, and its link to the probability of developing overt disease provided hope that, with careful training, individuals could exercise additional control over somatic illness by altering their lifestyle. Relaxation, meditation, and stress management have become recognized therapies for attempting to reduce blood pressure before pharmacological methods are prescribed. It therefore seems reasonable that pets, who provide faithful companionship to many people, also might promote greater psychosocial stability for their owners, and thus a measure of protection from heart disease. A plausible physiological basis for a beneficial influence of pets is provided by studies of heart rate in Old World monkeys and research of blood pressure in college students. There is now objective evidence, based on direct examination of coronary arteries, that monkeys housed in benign social environments and more frequently engaged in affiliative behaviors develop less severe coronary disease than monkeys repeatedly exposed to dominance-competitive interactions. It is possible that this decrease in atherosclerosis is directly related to the much lower heart rates that have been observed in these animals by means of telemetry, especially at times when they are engaged in social interactions with each other. Decreased coronary disease in animals with genetically lower heart rates also has been reported by others. Since elevated blood pressure also is associated with higher risk of developing significant coronary heart disease, demonstration that the presence of an unfamiliar dog lowers systolic blood pressure (but not diastolic blood pressure or heart rate) is only a partially encouraging finding for proponents of a link between health and pet ownership. Results from one such study found that postmyocardial infarction survival rates were much higher among pet owners than among non-owners. Those who own pets would surely be delighted to learn that they reap unexpected health and financial benefits (from lower health care costs) in addition to enjoying the companionship of the family cat or dog. Pet ownership is a very personal decision reflecting an individual preference. Not only does ability to care for a pet imply better health, it also may reflect availability of more discretionary income, which may result in more investment in health care. A companion animal may not necessarily be appropriate for everyone; however, withholding a pet from someone who wants one could be as much a source of distress as forcing one upon someone who does not. (To be continued in the October 13 issue.) |
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