Animals and emotional health
It is clearly in the realm of emotional health that pets can apparently impart the most benefits for their owners. In one study, Drs Sandra Barker and Kathryn Dawson examined the use of dogs as therapy for patients suffering from mental disorders.
They concluded that dog-assisted therapy, in which dogs related to the patients in therapy sessions, significantly lowered anxiety levels in patients with a variety of psychiatric problems, such as psychosis (including such diseases of the elderly as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia).
In fact, the reduction in anxiety was twice as great as with recreational therapy. Traditional recreational therapy, such as art and music, only lowered anxiety levels for patients suffering from mood disorders.
The authors stated that using dogs for therapy seems to be one of the most cost-effective methods of helping people with mental disorders.
Other health benefits of pets
A recent report represents a curious pet-related phenomenon that may have possibly useful consequences. It describes how dogs have detected certain undiagnosed skin cancers, and enabled physicians to treat patients before the cancers have spread.
They conclude that this ability should be investigated and research carried out to see if dogs can detect other difficult to diagnose diseases.
Stil other dogs can work as service dogs to help the deaf or visually impaired, or to predict when a person is going to have an epileptic seizure, and go get help.
I saw one of these dogs in action one time at a very crowded convention. The seizure was so bad, the woman eneded up in the hospital for 2 days afterwards. One can only think how bad things might have been had the dog not alerted us in advance.
Conclusion
Research points out that having a pet, especially a dog, is one of the keys to good health. It is no wonder that humans in different cultures throughout human history have always had pets. So, indeed, it seems that a owning a pet can help good health prevail, particularly for the elderly.
Even more exciting is the possibility that dogs will soon be used to help diagnose certain diseases. Certainly, more research on the use of pets in medicine should be undertaken to see what measureable improvements to human health can be demonstrated.
And of course, we need to keep in mind how essential we are to the dog’s well-being.
Related Books
Creature Comfort : Animals That Heal by Bernie Graham
Companion Animals in Human Health (Paperback)
by Cindy C. Wilson (Editor), Dennis C. Turner (Editor)
The Healing Power Of Pets: Harnessing The Amazing Ability Of Pets To Make And Keep People Happy And Healthy
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