Owning a pet clearly helps you age healthier when you live alone

The benefits of pets on morale are known, they also allow single people to age in better health. Living with a dog, cat, or other pet appears to delay the decline in memory as well as the decline in our speech abilities, according to a study, published Tuesday, December 26.

Chinese researchers followed nearly 8,000 people aged 50 and over, living alone, with or without a pet. According to these scientists, owning an animal, when you live alone, helps slow down the loss of verbal memory. That is to say, the memory which allows us to remember sounds, words or stories. Taking care of a dog, a cat or a rat, why not, would also make it possible to maintain for longer what we call good verbal fluency, in other words the ability to deliver information, to make sentences in an allotted time.

The impact of pet therapy

This is not the first time that scientists have demonstrated the benefit of having pets. Many researchers have been interested in the question. We have a certain perspective to affirm that interacting with animals is beneficial for mental health but also for physical health strictly speaking. In Canada, scientists have evaluated the impact of pets on physical health. They realized that pet owners were more active.

Some doctors also rely on animal therapy. A technique often used in retirement homes. The principle is to put people in contact with animals, often dogs or cats, but it is possible to practice pet therapy with horses, rabbits or even dolphins. Here we are talking about dolphin therapy. The only condition is to have an animal that can be approached. This technique allows, according to those who promote it, to reduce stress and blood pressure and to bring comfort to suffering people.