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Is Pet Ownership Good for Your Heart? The Results of a Survey of Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Melbourne, Australia.

W.P. Anderson, with C.M. Reid & G.L. Jennings

Abstract

A survey was conducted of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in people attending a free screening clinic at the Baker Medical Research Institute in Melbourne. We found that pet owners in the survey had lower systolic blood pressure and triglycerides than those who did not own pets, the difference being especially marked in men. The results were not explicable by lifestyle, dietary or socioeconomic differences between the pet owner and non-owner group.

 

About the author

W.P. Anderson BSc PhD
Baker Medical Research Institute
PO Box 348
PRAHRAN
VICTORIA 3181
AUSTRALIA
Phone (03)95224333
Fax (03)9521 1362

This work was stimulated by the President of the Board of the Baker Medical Research Institute, Sir Laurence Muir, who read an article on the alleged benefits of pet ownership for heart disease on a QANTAS flight in the mid 1980's. Since the Baker Institute is Australia's major heart disease research institute, Sir Laurence successfully convinced us that we could perform a more definitive study than had previously been done.

I am Associate Director of the Baker Medical Research Institute which is affiliated with Monash University in Melbourne and which is one of only three institutes Australia-wide in receipt of a Block Grant from the National Health Medical Research Council. My research interests mainly concern the control of blood pressure, and the role of the kidney in the development of high blood pressure. I have been at the Institute for 17 years, after three postdoctoral years at Harvard Medical School.

My other interest in animals is in their welfare when they are used in medical research. I am Chairman of the animal Experimentation Ethics Committee of the National Health Medical Research Council, and a member of the National Consultative Committee on Animal Welfare.

 

 

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