March 12, 2008
The cat is out of the bag. The devotion of cat owners who are fiercely loyal to their furry companions may be rewarded in a surprising way: Owning a cat may lower one's risk of dying from a heart attack.
Non-cat owners appear to have a 40 per cent higher risk of dying from heart attack than those who don't have a cat, according to a study presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference last month in New Orleans, United States.
Researchers examined the data of 4,435 people from the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. (Dogs weren't factored into the findings because fewer participants owned them.)
'The big question is,' says lead author Dr Adnan Qureshi, executive director of the Minnesota Stroke Institute, 'is this the direct effect of having a cat or a variable of people who own cats?'
He added: 'There isn't enough evidence to recommend this (getting a cat) as a standard practice. But the flip side is that unlike other medical interventions, which have a risk and a cost associated with it, this has minimal risk and isn't as costly. There's not much harm to it.'
- THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
