Surprising Health Benefits of Dog Ownership

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PakistanToday
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21
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 You may not think so when you get a heart-stopping veterinarian bill or when all your dog does is laze on the couch and watch TV with you but dog ownership actually can provide a variety of health benefits.

Anecdotal and scientific evidence have shown that dog owners tend to be healthier than the average person. Here are five ways that living with a dog might keep you healthy.

Detecting Cancer

Scientific reports of dogs sniffing out cancerous growths go back at least two decades. According to a 1989 case study in The Lancet, a patient reported that her dog would constantly sniff at a mole on her leg, and once even tried to bite the lesion off. Prompted by this, she had her mole checked out and found it to be a malignant melanoma.

But dogs are not only good at sniffing out skin cancer, some can also detect bladder, lung, breast, ovarian and colon cancer. In fact, a specially trained eight-year-old black Labrador named Panda correctly detected colorectal cancer in 33 out of 37 samples of people’s breath and stool that scientists had collected. Moreover, according to the article in the journal Gut published this year, Panda appeared to be highly accurate at detecting early-stage colorectal cancer.

Keeping you active

This is perhaps no surprise to owners that frequently walk or exercise with their dogs. After all, dogs are more likely to beg for a walk or a game of fetch than other house pets.

According to a 2006 study done by Canadian researchers at the University of Victoria, dog owners were more likely to participate in mild to moderate physical activity. They walked an average of 300 minutes per week, compared with non-dog owners, who walked an average of 168 minutes per week.

Detecting low blood sugar

Some trained dogs seem to detect low blood sugar levels. According to a 2000 article in the British Medical Journal, more than one-third of dogs living with diabetic people have been reported to display behavioral changes when their owners’ blood sugar drops, sometimes even before patients themselves were aware of it. In two case studies cited by the paper, the dogs not only detected their owners’ falling glucose levels, they even nudged their owners into eating.

It’s unclear how the dogs did it, but it’s possible that they detected minute muscle tremors, or changes in the owners’ scents, according to the study.

Helping in seizures

The duties of a seizure dog are similar to those of a seeing-eye dog to help their owners navigate day-to-day activities, and steer them away from harmful situations. There are many organizations in the United States that train seizure dogs. In most cases, these dogs are trained to recognize subtle behavior or body language changes during seizure events.

But some believe that the dogs are perceptive enough to warn their owners of oncoming attacks, allowing the owners to take seizure-blocking medication, get to a safe place or call for assistance. However, there are very few scientific studies supporting the idea that dogs can detect epileptic seizures ahead of time.

Although some researchers have cast doubt that dogs are able to alert owners to seizures, most researchers agree that a dog can at the very least provide important support and companionship for patients with epilepsy.

Steering clear of allergic food

Some dogs are good at sniffing out illicit substances and bombs. However, it appears that other dogs’ olfactory prowess is better used in detecting allergens.

For people whose peanut allergies are so severe that even miniscule residues in the air can trigger an allergic reaction, a peanut detection dog can come in handy, according to according to training facilities such as the Florida Canine Academy. These dogs, after going through vigorous training, can detect the trace presence of peanuts in a room, such as a cookie left on the table or a candy bar hidden in a lunch bag.

Owners with peanut allergies still have to be vigilant about peanut contaminations in food, and should always carry an epinephrine pen in case of emergencies. However, peanut-detecting dogs can help ease their minds.

 

Photo Courtesy: Sara Hassan

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21 COMMENTS

  2. Thanks for sharing such informative article.
    Dogs are awesome!!
    People really need to change their mindset.

  5. hi gorgeous ladies and gentlemen (yes you heard me right),
    I am Muneeb (orignal wala) and i stalk girls at MCdonalds while fasting. cool na?

      • ill be there, red shirt , pink shorts and white goggles, u know shorts are pretty much IN these days just like you shake it and roam around like you dnt care.

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