There is an ever-growing body of research suggesting and supporting that animal companionship can have measurable effects on one's health, influencing such diverse things as recovery from surgery and serious illness, blood pressure and one's overall stress perception. These studies have been going on for decades and have had as a result many positive program outgrowths, such as Pets on Wheels visitation in nursing home, horse and dolphin camps for autistic children and pets in the classroom for the developmentally challenged.

Andrew Weil in his December, 1999 Self Healing Newsletter reports as follows: "One 1991 State University of NY in Buffalo study found that the company of a dog may actually be more calming than a human friend. When 45 women counted backwards by 13's and 17's with a pet dog at their feet, the subjects' physical stress indicators changed little from a resting state, but climbed dramatically when this task was performed with a friend close by. Researchers speculated that it was the dogs' unconditional support (and lack of judgment) that helped keep their human companions cool under pressure."

Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland in the 1980's showed that stroking a pet dog lowered blood pressure. In a study of mortality rates for persons who had had a heart attack and lived alone, it was clearly demonstrated that those patients who had a pet to return home to greatly reduced their mortality rates over those who do not; in some cases, this "therapeutic" pet was a mere goldfish. That loving and caring for a pet provides nurturance, and companionship was not surprising--that it could affect the length of one's life after a heart attack was a surprise!!

Weil also reported on a 1999 study in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society showing that of the 1000 elderly Canadians studied, those living with a pet were found to be better able to attend to activities of daily life than were their peers without pets. Perhaps the increased activity required in the care of a pet leads to better health and adds a dimension of social support otherwise missing in the isolation experienced by many elders.

Exactly why pets have beneficial effects on human beings' physical and psychological health remains unclear in many researchers' minds. However, for any of us who have told our pets our problems, experienced their unflinching affection and devotion, lived with their sensitivity to our moods, and who have been the recipients of their limitless love--the reasons are very clear.

Karen M. Kleeman
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