Hey, at least I don’t have heart problems …
By Gina Spadafori
February 22, 2008
Why? Because I have a cat! From an ABC News report:
According to [a] study, presented … at the American Stroke Association meeting in New Orleans, cat owners may actually be less likely to die from heart attack, stroke or other types of cardiovascular disease.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Stroke Research Center looked at 4,435 people, aged 30 to 75 years, who were participating in ongoing national government health research from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study.
They found that over a 20-year period, those who had never owned a cat had a 40 percent greater risk of death due to heart attack and a 30 percent higher risk of death due to any sort of cardiovascular disease than previous or current cat owners. Researchers found no such protective effects for dog owners.
“This study links pet ownership to health consequences, and that’s very new concept that we haven’t previously considered,” said lead study investigator Dr. Adnan Qureshi, executive director of the Stroke Center at the University of Minnesota.
Here’s the rest, including why the study is considered controversial, so go read the whole thing. I only wish cats (or dogs, rabbits or parrots) helped prevent the flu! (But I’m feeling better today, thanks.)
Clara is such a pretty girl!
Comment by Katherine — February 22, 2008 @ 10:07 am
Glad to hear you are feeling better!
We’ve had sick kids and sick dogs on the home front, but everyone seems to be on the upswing.
Now it’ll be my turn…..
Comment by JenniferJ — February 22, 2008 @ 1:29 pm
I just write so I can show off pictures of the Empress Clara. But I AM feeling a little better today, yay!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — February 22, 2008 @ 1:53 pm
Nice to know there’s scientific evidence to backup my cat habit. :)
Comment by Entrepreneur — February 22, 2008 @ 2:40 pm
Glad you are on the mend. It must have been rough for a while to be so sick.
My husband has been ill with the flu and is getting better, also.
Clara is spectacularly gorgeous, her eyes are striking. She seems so in command of herself.
I say you took quite a good picture.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — February 23, 2008 @ 6:13 am
Okay, I read the article and while I agree that cats totally rule, I have to disagree with the speculation that cat-owners are low-stress or “stress doesn’t bother them” people.
Having a cat seems to correlate with being nuturing (Every woman I know who is serious about herbs has at least one cat), but most of us have stress ocming out of our ears (which is why we pet our cats and munch on lots of herbs) — “laid-back” is not an adjective I would use for most of the women I know in sustainable ag or serious gardening! ;-)
Regardless, I’m sending out the article and rubbing the “dogs-only” folks noses in it!(Sorry, the ghost of The Queen of The Universe is making me do it! :-D)
Comment by Dorene — February 23, 2008 @ 4:44 pm