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宠物让你更健康

萌宠菠菠乐园
2024-08-19 07:57

宠物让你更健康

Why Pets Boost Your Health

萌宠来袭，汪~乖巧的宠物，虽然不会说话，但也能读懂你，还有助于你的身心健康哦~

Few pet owners need convincing that an animal in the house brings health and happiness. For many of Australia's 12 million pet owners, the thump of a dog's tail or the rumbling purr of a contented cat is enough to bring on the feel-good factor. But increasingly, science is supporting the sentimentality with medical fact, and all the evidence points in the same direction: pets can help you live longer.很少有宠物主人会质疑“宠物带来健康和快乐”这一说法。对于澳大利亚1,200万宠物主人来说，小狗摇摇尾巴或慵懒的猫咪的呼噜声就已经足够让人感到愉悦了。但医学上不断发现了有关情绪化的真相，所有证据都指向同一结论：宠物可以让你活得更长久。

Pet owners have lower stress, cholesterol levels and blood pressure than their pet-less counterparts. In one famous study, Dr Karen Allen at the State University of New York observed hypertension among stressed-out Wall Street stockbrokers. She gave half the group dogs and the other half medication. Six months later, the pooch-petters were doing significantly better, while the pill-poppers still had high blood pressure.相较情况类似且没有宠物的人来说，养宠物的人压力更小，胆固醇水平和血压也更低。在一项著名的研究中，纽约州立大学的凯伦·艾伦博士观察了压力过大的华尔街股票经纪人们的高血压情况。她让其中一组人养狗，另一组服药。六个月后，养狗的人情况显著好转，而服药的人仍然有高血压。

Dr James Serpell, who founded the Animal Research Group at Cambridge University, also followed the health of people with recently acquired pets. "After just one month, there was a very significant reduction in minor health problems among pet owners. And after ten months, general health had improved."

詹姆斯·瑟培尔博士创立了剑桥大学动物研究小组，他也跟踪调查了刚刚抱养宠物的人的健康状况。“仅仅一个月后，宠物主人身体上的小病痛数量减少了很多。而十月后，总体健康状况有所改善。”

However, researchers caution that the pet ownership story is complex. People with pets also tend to be married with children, have gardens, and show better ability to manage income – all variables that relate strongly to health.然而，研究者们注意到宠物主人的经历比较复杂。有宠物的人通常已婚、有小孩、有花园、有更强的理财能力——所有这些因素都与健康有很强的关系。All in the mind与心理有关

Professor Serpell, now director of the Centre for the Interaction of Animals and Society at Pennsylvania University, agrees the reasons for better health among pet owners are unclear. But he believes psychology plays an important part. He calls pets "non-human social support providers" and points to many studies showing that people with good human social support networks have a more robust immune system and less cardiovascular disease. Pets may promote the same feelings of purpose, companionship and fulfilment, with similar health benefits.

瑟培尔教授现在是宾夕法尼亚大学动物与社会互动研究中心主任，他也认为，促使宠物主人更健康的原因尚不明确。但他相信心理因素是一个很重要的原因。他将宠物称为“非人类的社会支持提供者”，并指出，许多研究表明有良好的社会支持关系网的人有更健康的免疫系统，心血管疾病的患病机率更低。宠物也许能让你更有目标，更有被陪伴的感觉，成就感越强，也更健康。

There could be a scientific explanation for this feel-good factor. "It now appears that when people are in the company of those they like or love – whether humans or animals – their brains produce oxytocin, which suppresses the production of stress hormones," explains Professor Serpell.瑟培尔教授解释道，也许可以从科学的角度解释这种良好感觉：“目前认为，当人们在所爱的事物陪伴下时——无论是人类或动物——他们的大脑会产生催产素，这种催产素能抑制应激激素的产生。”The truth about cats and dogs有关猫猫狗狗的真相

Pet ownership also encourages physical exercise. Researchers believe this may be the reason that dogs produce more health benefits in their owners than cats or other animals.

养宠物同时也会鼓励人们进行体育锻炼。研究者们认为，这也是相较猫或其他动物来说，狗狗让主人更健康的原因。

Professor Annette Dobson from the School of Population Health at the University of Queensland was part of a study among 894 adults in New South Wales that showed dog-owners walked an average of 18 minutes more per week than those without pets.

来自昆士兰大学公众健康学院的安妮特·多布森教授参与了新南威尔士州的一项研究。此研究在调查了894名成人后表明，养狗的人们比没有养宠物的人平均每星期多走18分钟。

But, she cautions, more than half the owners didn't walk their dogs at all, showing dog ownership and greater physical activity don't always go hand in hand. "Still, we concluded that, if all dog owners walked their dogs, substantial disease prevention and healthcare cost savings of $175 million per year might result."但是她告诫道，超过一半的宠物主人根本不遛狗，因此养狗并不意味着有更多的体育锻炼。“尽管如此，我们仍然得出结论：如果所有养狗的人们都遛狗，每年也许可以节省1,75亿美元的疾病预防和医疗保健费用。”Better recovery更快地恢复健康

Pet owners also recover more quickly from heart attacks, illness and accidents. This has made the use of therapy pets standard in many of the world's hospitals and rehabilitation centers.

养宠物的人同样也能更快地从心脏病、疾病和事故中恢复过来。因此，世界上很多医院和康复中心都采用宠物疗法。

Dogs NSW spokesperson Dr Peter Higgins first observed the effect when a labrador called Honey was introduced to Melbourne's Caulfield Hospital in the 1980s, an experiment that garnered international attention. Dr Higgins went on to Dogs NSW help establish the Pets as Therapy program run by the Guide Dogs Association.

上世纪80年代在墨尔本的考尔菲尔德医院里，Dogs NSW的发言人彼得·希金斯博士首次从一只叫哈尼的狗身上观察到了宠物的影响，这个实验获得了国际性的关注。希金斯先生加入了Dogs NSW，协助导盲犬协会建立了宠物疗法项目。

"Twenty years of research shows that pet-assisted therapy has many benefits," says Dr Higgins. He lists lower blood pressure, better respiratory patterns, improved immune system and less need for pain medication among the measurable physical improvements among aged-care residents who interact with dogs.

“二十年的研究表明伴侣宠物疗法有许多益处，”希金斯博士说。他列出了几项：降低血压，拥有更好的呼吸模式，提升免疫系统，降低止痛药的需求。这些体现在那些上年纪的养狗者身上，他们的健康状况得到明显改善。

The psychological benefits are harder to quantify. "The presence of dogs seems to rekindle a positive aspect to life. That may be because dogs are non-judgmental and considered to offer unconditional love and affection."心理上的益处更难量化。“狗狗的存在似乎可以让人重新找到生活中积极的一面。也许是因为狗狗不会甄别主人的好与坏，总会给主人无条件的爱。”

Whatever the case, the animal-human bond should never be underestimated, concludes Dr Higgins. "It's certainly more than just a feel-good factor. Scientists are still working on the why, and complex hormonal interactions may be the key. But we all agree on one thing: owning a pet is certainly good for you.希金斯博士总结道，无论如何，都不能小看人类与动物的联系。“这种联系不会只产生一个有利因素。科学家们仍然在探索原因，复杂的荷尔蒙的作用也许是问题的关键。但是我们都认同一个观点：养宠物有益于你。”本文由百度翻译&北语高翻联合独家翻译出品。译者:李婧涵校对:Sophie.Z 编辑:Sophie.Z 文章来源:bodyandsoul