It’s the Remedy…

We’ve all heard that pets can have a positive effect on our health. But what exactly can they do for us? In this post, we provide you with a list of the most common benefits based on a multitude of research conducted on the subject of pets and people. So here is what a pet can be a remedy for:

The interaction between people and pets can:

• Reduce blood pressure
• Reduce cholesterol levels
• Raise triglyceride levels
• Decrease feelings of loneliness
• Provide opportunities for exercise and outdoor activity
• Provide opportunities for socialization (both romantic and platonic)
• Result in milder emotional responses
• Allow people to recover more quickly from stress
• Improve mood
• Decrease anxiety
• Provide a friend/confidant for children
• Increase calm and concentration for autistic people
• Fend off or lessen depression
• Decrease the risk of developing allergies or asthma if the person had a childhood pet
• Increase longevity and appetites in Alzheimer’s patients
• Cause patients to report less pain in hospital settings

And just recently, Mars Petcare announced a new people-pets fitness program called The Power of Pets, for which it has partnered with several YMCAs across the county.

The list goes on and on…with a quick Google search, you’ll have a whole day’s worth of reading about the wealth of benefits pets can have on our lives!

Sources for this post include: 
The American Journal of Critical Care, The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, The Delta Society, newsweek.com, The New York Times, The American Veterinary Association, webmd.com and PR Newswire.