Dog owners are at lower risk of death, research reveals

Dogs really are man’s best friend, new research has revealed, after scientists found that owning a one can help you to live longer.

A study of 3.4 million Swedes found people that owned dogs, particularly hunting breeds, were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.

Scientists analysed national registers for people aged 40 to 80 and compared them to dog ownership registers.

Owners of terriers, retrievers, and scent hounds were most protected from cardiovascular disease and death. But owning any dog at all will reduce the risk of death, researchers said.

“The results showed that single dog owners had a 33 per cent reduction in risk of death and 11 per cent reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease during follow-up compared to single non-owners,” said junior author of the research Dr. Mwenya Mubanga said.

"Perhaps a dog may stand in as an important family member in the single households."

There was no one reason for the results: scientists said owning a dog not only increases physical activity but also boosts social contact and wellbeing, as well as exposing owners to bacteria they may not have encountered otherwise.

For their study, published in Scientific Reports, the team looked at data from 2001 to 2012. In Sweden, it is mandatory to register your dog if you own one, while every visit to a hospital is recorded in national databases.

Tove Fall, senior author of the study, said there were some limitations: "These kind of epidemiological studies look for associations in large populations but do not provide answers on whether and how dogs could protect from cardiovascular disease.”

The study also suggested that people who decide to get a dog tend to be more active and of better health.

Cardiovascular disease was the cause of nearly half of all European deaths last year.