Strong evidence suggests that individuals diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a higher chance of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes in adults, and their mechanisms are still under investigation. In a recent study, individuals with PTSD showed increased sympathetic excitation, but decreased myocardial contractility. Rorabaugh and colleagues found an allergic reaction to heart ischemia in rats exposed to predator stress. It has been suggested that inflammation can mediate between PTSD and insulin resistance in young veterans. There is also interest in improving PTSD whether and how to reduce the risk of CVD and diabetes, with the goal of known behavioral risk factors for elevated CVD in PTSD, such as smoking, alcohol abuse, poor diet and lack of physical activity.

Dog Raising is a universally supported supplementary and alternative intervention proposed for PTSD. It turns out that raising dogs is related to enhancing heart health in the general population. Mubanga and colleagues used Sweden’s total population registry to compare records of all 40-80-year-olds in 2001 with the register of all dogs they had at that time. After adjusting for multiple covariates in 3,432,153 samples and assuming that the lifespan of dogs is 10 years, the possibility of association between dog raising and decreased mortality associated with CVD (acute myocardial infarction + heart failure + ischemic stroke + hemorrhagic stroke) was supported. During the 12-year follow-up period, the risk reduction of solitary people was greater. A follow-up study by Mubanga et al. found that within 12 years after the first myocardial infarction, a similar pattern of risk reduction occurred in a large sample population (n=181,696). Kramer et al. reviewed smaller studies and came up with similar results.    

This study investigates whether raising dogs is also beneficial for cardiovascular and diabetes in retired U.S. military personnel. Veterans are older than civilians, mainly males, with the incidence of CVD, diabetes, mental and drug use disorders rising. At the same time, raising cats is also used as a control variable in the study.

data are from the 2019-2020 cohort of the United States Veterans International Health and Resilience Research (NHRVS). Previous NHRVS research considered a broad range of topics including the physical health, mental health, ageing and suicide tendencies of veterans. The mean (SD) age of the sample was 62.6 (15.4) years, of which 9.7% were female.

The problem of raising a pet is embedded in the mental health outcomes section.

Table 1 Diseases of cardiac metabolic diseases (divided by dog ​​raising status)

People who raise dogs have lower chances of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, but they do not reduce the probability of heart attacks and strokes.

Prevalence of cardiac metabolic disease (divided by cat status) Picture

Cat raising is not related to any assessed prevalence/morbidity of cardiac metabolic disease status compared to dogs.

Cardiovascular disease-related indicators (divided by dog ​​raising)

Dog owners are younger, more female, and more likely to report traumatic events than those who do not raise dogs.

Logistic regression model results of the relationship between dog raising and cardiovascular disease-related indicators    

Logistic regression results show that the prevalence of high cholesterol and hypertension in dog raising people has decreased significantly, but it has nothing to do with other indicators.