We all know that dogs are man’s best friend, but it turns out they provide a whole lot more than companionship. In an extensive new study from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology published in the National Library of Medicine in December 2023, having a dog can dramatically reduce the rates of disabling dementia by nearly 40%.
The study was extremely in-depth.
Researchers used data from more than 11,000 people aged between 65 and 84, which is about 10% of the population of Ota City, Tokyo, Japan. They specifically examined the relationship between having cats and dogs and exercise habits like walking, swimming, running, and cycling.
The study took four years to complete, with researchers looking for incident disabling dementia by delving into data from the long-term care insurance system (LTCI) of the participants.
Having a dog appears to be a game-changer.
The study found that those who owned a dog had a much lower risk of severe dementia throughout the study.
It seems that having a dog meant that owners were exercising more regularly and weren’t as socially isolated, both of which may have contributed to their reduced risk of severe dementia.
It makes a lot of sense!
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Sadly, having a cat made no real difference to dementia risk.
Compared to dogs, which had an odds-ratio risk of 0.6, cat owners stayed at 0.98 risk. In other words, having a cat didn’t really lead to any reduction in dementia rates since the baseline rate is 1.0.
This is likely since cats are largely self-sufficient. They don’t require regular walking, meaning elderly owners may remain more isolated or do less exercise as a result.
Still, that doesn’t mean cat ownership has no benefits — the companionship the animals provide can still have an extremely positive effect on mental and emotional health.
