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Pets and a Lowered Risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD: Heart Disease)

pet health, aspca pet insurance, cardiovascular disease

<p>According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention &lpar;CDC&rpar;&comma; the No&period; 1 leading cause of mortality in the United States is heart disease&period; The number of heart disease-related deaths is 5 times greater than all accidental &lpar;unintentional injury&rpar; deaths combined&comma; according to the CDC&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Typically caused by poor lifestyle choices&comma; heart disease is something we can proactively combat by making good lifestyle choices&period; In fact&comma; one unconventional method of combating the condition is to simply own a pet&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But what does owning a pet have to do with fighting heart disease&quest; The American Heart Association has studied the relationship between pet ownership &lpar;mostly dog or cat&rpar; and cardiovascular disease &lpar;CVD&rpar; and found that there is a strong correlation to a reduced risk for heart-related disease&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This risk reduction may be the result of pet owners getting more physical activity simply by interacting with their pets&comma; such as going for walks or playing fetch&period; This increased physical activity then leads to&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>Improved lipid profiles &lpar;cholesterol &amp&semi; triglycerides&rpar;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Lower blood pressure<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Improved autonomic tone &lpar;involved with heartbeat&sol;rhythm&rpar;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Improved capacity to cope with stress<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Improved survival after acute coronary syndrome &lpar;obstruction of coronary arteries&rpar;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p>The study cannot definitively state that every pet parent will see a reduced risk for heart-related disease because outcomes depend on the individual&period; But it does give some insights about the behaviors of pet owners&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>One idea is that healthier people are more likely to own a pet than people who choose a less healthy lifestyle&period; Another may be that owning a pet—particularly a dog—encourages individuals to participate in physical activity more frequently than others&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Isn’t it convenient that we inadvertently take care of our own health&comma; thanks to our natural drive to care for dependent beings&comma; such as a cat or dog&quest; Morning walks with the pup look much more promising right about now&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In another independent study conducted by Michigan State University&comma; dog owners were 34&percnt; more likely to meet the minimum weekly criteria of physical activity&period; For adults between the ages of 19 and 64&comma; that would be 150 minutes &lpar;2&period;5 hours&rpar; of moderate intensity exercise per week&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>These studies raise other questions&comma; as many unmeasured variables factor into the overall equation&period; For instance&comma; because each person is a unique individual&comma; it’s not clear that the simple act of purchasing or adopting a pet will result in a reduced risk of CVD&period; Rather&comma; the influence of owning a pet could improve the likelihood of someone adopting healthy behaviors that do reduce the risk of CVD&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In any case&comma; the psychological facets of the human-pet bond require further study&period; After all&comma; pets have been a major part of human culture for thousands of years&comma; and they continue to affect society in new ways&period; So&comma; with health in mind&comma; you can return the favor by considering a dog insurance plan for your four-legged companion&period; For more information&comma; check out this informational page about ASPCA Pet Insurance&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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