And interestingly, you don’t even have to be a “dog person” to get the benefits. Numerous studies have been published showing how healthy it is to be around dogs. Hanging out with Fido can do phenomenal things, from lowering blood pressure to helping veterans cope with PTSD. Dogs can even detect dangerous drops in blood sugar for patients with diabetes, and some canines have been able to detect tumors in their owners before anyone else!
Now back to not having to be a “dog person.” One study specifically used a questionnaire to assess participants’ attitudes towards dogs before using the pets as an intervention. In other words, the researchers were able to find out who were the “dog people” out of the participants and who weren’t. What’s fascinating is that positive physiological changes were observed in all subjects, independent of their attitudes towards dogs.
Some biochemical markers shown to change from dog-assisted therapy are reductions in the stress hormones cortisol, norepinephrine,and epinephrine, lowering of blood pressure, and an increase in endorphins, the “feel good” neurotransmitters.
One study at an outpatient pain clinic involved having fibromyalgia patients hang out with therapy dogs while they waited to be seen by the doctor. Like any good research study, there was also a “control” group of fibromyalgia patients who waited for the doctor without the dogs around. After interacting with the pups, nearly eight times as many patients in the dog therapy group reported pain reduction than in the non-dog therapy group.
When I used to volunteer at a hospice, I saw first-hand how dogs can act as pain relievers. Other volunteers would bring their dogs in and the patients, all who were living with AIDS, seemed to forget about their pain when the pups were around. And I am sure if their stress hormone and endorphin levels had been measured, the data would parallel the results in the other studies.
The healing power of dogs should not be underestimated. Not only do they love us unconditionally, but they can serve as potent pain-relievers too. I’m signing off now to go hug my dog. Hopefully she benefits as much as I do!
References
Marcus, D.A., et al., (2012). Impact of Animal-Assisted Therapy for Outpatients with Fibromyalgia. Pain Medicine. 14(1):43-51
Marcus, D.A., (2013). The Science Behind Animal-Assisted Therapy.Current Pain and Headache Reports. 17(4):322