養狗的好處?你可能更長壽

A Swedish study suggests that owning a dog is linked to a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease and death.

瑞典的一項研究表明，養狗和心血管疾病的患病與死亡風險降低有關。

Researchers used demographic data on 3.4 million Swedes ages 40 to 80. In Sweden, all dogs are registered with the Swedish Board of Agriculture and identified by number with an ear tattoo or a subcutaneous chip.

研究人員使用了340萬年齡在40至80歲的瑞典人的人口統計數據。在瑞典，所有犬隻都在瑞典農業局(Swedish Board of Agriculture)註冊，並以耳部刺青或皮下芯片證明身份。

Anyone with a record of cardiovascular disease before the 12-year study began was excluded, and the researchers controlled for age, sex, marital status, income and other factors. Owning a dog was associated with a 20 percent lower risk of all-cause death and a 23 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. The study is in Scientific Reports.

本次爲期12年的研究排除了在研究開始前已有心血管疾病記錄的人，研究人員還控制了年齡、性別、婚姻狀況、收入等其他因素。養狗與全死因死亡風險下降20%，以及心血管疾病死亡風險下降23%有關。該研究發表於《科學報告》(Scientific Reports)。

The effect was stronger with certain breeds, particularly pointers and retrievers. The senior author, Tove Fall, an epidemiologist at Uppsala University, suggested that this may reflect different kinds of owners: picture the owner of a Labrador retriever, and then one who has a Pomeranian.

一些特定品種影響更大，尤其是波音達獵犬和尋回犬。論文資深作者、烏普薩拉大學(Uppsala University)流行病學家託弗·福爾(Tove Fall)提出，這可能反映出了主人的不同類型：想象一下拉布拉多尋回犬的主人，再想想養博美犬的主人。

“Owning a dog is good motivation to get out and exercise and may provide some social support,” Dr. Fall said. But the study does not prove cause and effect, and in any case, “not everyone is up to owning a dog. Don’t give a dog to your grandmother in the hope that she’ll live longer.”

“養狗是出門鍛鍊的良好動力，也可能對社交有幫助，”福爾說。但該研究並未證明因果關係，並且不論如何，“不是每個人都想養狗的。別想着爲了讓你的祖母活得更久，就送她一隻狗。”