Purring to your health

In study co-funded by the National Institutes of Health (US) and American Heart Associatio have shown that having a cat can lower stress levels, which in turn has an impact on the risk of cardiovascular disease. Owning a cat can actually lower your risk of various heart conditions and stroke by about 30%.

20 years of follow-up included a total of 14,407 participants, of which 2,435 reported having a cat. The relative risk of all deaths, deaths from myocardial infarction, cardiovascular disease, and stroke was determined using the Cox proportional hazard model for cat or dog ownership categories among participants, after adjusting for potential confounding variables (age, gender, ethnicity, blood pressure). blood, smoking, diabetes, serum cholesterol, body mass index).

Other research , This time, researchers from the University of Missouri have shown that owning a cat can have significant benefits for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The research team divided 11 families with children aged 6-14 into two groups: a treatment group that adopted the cat immediately, and a control group. Both groups were followed for 18 weeks and the parents completed questionnaires every 6 weeks. Thereafter, members of the control group also adopted cats and both groups were watched again for 18 weeks.

"After adopting a cat in children with ASD, there was a significant increase in empathy and a decrease in separation anxiety. They also experienced a significant decline in problem behaviors such as hyperactivity and inattention, "says Gretchen Carlisle, author of the study.

The results of research by Dennis R. Ownby from the Medical College of Georgia, indicate that early, i.e. in the first year of life, exposure of children to pets may reduce the risk of allergies. The team examined 474 healthy infants, inspecting them annually until the children were six to seven years of age, when they had skin tests and blood tests to diagnose allergies to dogs, cats, mites, ragweed, grasses and alternaria.

After accounting for confounding factors such as parental smoking and dust mite allergen levels, the researchers found that children who grew up with two or more dogs or cats in their first year of life were 66% to 77% less likely to develop allergies than children who were raised in homes without pets or with one pet. Importantly, early exposure to pets reduced the risk of developing allergies not only to pets, but also to other common allergens such as grasses, pollen, and molds.