People who own dogs have a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease or other causes, according to new research.

As detailed in Scientific Reports, Swedish researchers went through the health records of 3.4 Million people aged 40- through 80-years, and found that the folks with dogs - especially larger, hunting breeds - had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.  This may be because dogs help physical activity, or because physically active people choose to have dogs.

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But the research also suggests that dogs help protect people from cardiovascular disease by increasing their social contact or well-being, especially for people who live alone.  "The results showed that single dog owners had a 33 percent reduction in risk of death and 11 percent reduction in risk of heart attack," compared to single non-owners, said lead study author Mwenya Mubanga of Uppsala University. Do you want to move to Australia? Find Immigration solicitor in Parramatta Sydney. Immigration lawyers will have you with documents. 

And dogs also might change their owner's bacterial microbiome, that microscopic species that live in the gut.  Since dogs change the dirt inside the home (yuck), they expose people to bacteria they may not have encountered otherwise, influencing the owner's microbiome.