Swedish scientists have just published a study in Scientific Reports that shows that dog owners have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and overall risk of death than those who don’t have dogs. Surprisingly, one type of dog provided their owners with the best health benefits, which gives us a strong indication of why owning a dog helps prevent stroke, heart attack and other causes of death. In Sweden, it is compulsory to register yourself as a dog owner, and you also get a registration number when you visit a hospital.
With all this information easily available, researchers compared the hospital records of dog owners and non-owners over 12 years to see who was more likely to be hospitalized and die. Those who owned dogs originally bred for hunting, like retrievers and terriers, had the lowest risk of both heart disease and death. This indicates that owning a dog that needs a lot of exercise motivates you to go out for a long walk every day, which is one of the best things you can do for your heart.
However, this is not the only reason dogs are heart healthy.
Companionship has long been linked with good health. And what better companion than a loving dog?
Older studies, like one from the American Heart Association published in a 2013 edition of the Journal Circulation, reveals that dog owners get more exercise, have lower cholesterol, have lower blood pressure, respond to stress in a way that does not elevate their blood pressure, and have a better chance to survive after an acute heart event. Now having a dog is not for everyone and even if you do, it may not be enough to lower your blood pressure and cholesterol to a healthy level.
This function is essential to your health. Without it, a simple flu would kill you and a splinter would bring you to the emergency room. But according to a study published in the journal, Immunity, this essential cell function is also responsible for deadly high blood pressure. Scientists from IRCCS Neuromed have discovered recently that T-cells, immune cells produced mostly by the spleen, play a major role in raising blood pressure. This sounds a little strange since the T-cells are an essential part of the immune system, but they also drive inflammation in the arteries, which causes damage to cardiovascular health.
but any kind of long-lasting stress puts your immune system in high gear to build up any damage done as soon as possible. This study was remarkable, and it revealed some of the physical processes your body goes through to raise blood pressure once it’s under stress. Your brain sends out PlGF, which produces T-cells and raises blood pressure when your body is experiencing long-lasting stress of some kind. Even after the stress is no longer present, the brain becomes somewhat stuck in the process of releasing PlGF. Therefore, the inflammation response (T-cells) and high blood pressure are stuck in ‘high gear,’ which again, causes stress throughout your body. The solution is to break this vicious circle. My approach is to apply something I call a Focused Break. It reboots your system, causing it to evaluate the need for increasing blood pressure or not. The typical result is that BP drops down to a normal level.
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