{"id":3919,"date":"2013-04-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/pets-health-com-wants-to-know-how-have-pets-helped-you-to-heal\/"},"modified":"2013-04-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-23T00:00:00","slug":"pets-health-com-wants-to-know-how-have-pets-helped-you-to-heal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/pets-health-com-wants-to-know-how-have-pets-helped-you-to-heal\/","title":{"rendered":"Health.com Wants to Know: How Have Pets Helped You to Heal?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Sure, furry friends are nice to have around, but the benefits of owning a pet may go beyond companionship.<\/p>\n
Since the 1980s, studies have linked dogs and cats to health benefits such as higher survival rates after illness, fewer visits to the doctor, and better physical and psychological well-being in the elderly. Cat owners, for example, may be less likely to die from a heart attack or stroke, according to a study presented at the 2008 American Stroke Association Annual Meeting. (Read more about the health benefits of dogs versus cats.)<\/a><\/p>\n Not all researchers agree on the relationship between pet ownership and health, but animal lovers don't need much convincing. Thousands of pet-praising blogs (which include ones "written" by the pets themselves<\/a>, as CNN has reported) permeate the Web. Even January Payne, a medical reporter for U.S. News & World Report<\/em>, has blogged about her poodle's impact on her health<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although most pets aren't dragging little boys out of wells, they are<\/em> involved in saving lives. Seizure dogs<\/a> provide an alarm system for epilepsy patients, and diabetic alert dogs<\/a> are trained to identify the scent changes that accompany hypoglycemia. Research has even shown that dogs may be able to smell melanoma and other types of cancer.<\/p>\n