Life Savers!

"Dog ownership was associated with a 24 percent risk reduction for all-cause mortality as compared to non-ownership."
"Dog ownership is associated with lower risk of death over the long term, which is possibly driven by a reduction in cardiovascular mortality."
Study authors published in Circulation, journal of the American Heart Association

"Dogs offer companionship, reduce anxiety and loneliness, increase self-esteem, and improve overall mood."
"Several studies have shown that acquiring a dog perforce increases physical exercise [as anyone who has unsuccessfully tried to sleep past the time of a dog's routine morning walk can attest]."
"Pet owners tend to be younger, wealthier, better educated, and more likely to be married, all of which improve cardiovascular outcomes."
"The association  between dog ownership and improved survival is real, and is likely at least partially causal."
The most salient benefits of dog ownership on cardiovascular outcomes are likely mediated through large and sustained improvements in mental health, including lower rates of depression, decreased loneliness, and increased self-esteem."
Dr.Dhruv Kazi, cardiologist, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston

A new study undertook to review several decades of evidence on the interdependent relations between dog ownership and mortality. The study focused on dogs as personal companion pets and made no effort to examine any potential longevity and health benefits accruing to cat ownership \. However, that connection was explored in at least one previously-published study, finding that like dog ownership, cat companions too are linked to a decrease in fatal cardiovascular events in their owners.

The study's authors were interested in reconciling differences in previously published literature based on the benefits of dog ownership. Of previous studies not all validated the understanding of companion dogs' beneficial effects on their human companions. Some of those studies indicated a benefit while there were others that came up empty. However, this new study linked to data that indicated among people who had already had cardiovascular issues such as a heart attack and stroke, even greater benefits resulted with dog ownership.

The study came with an accompanying editorial written by cardiologist Dhruv Kazi, who outlined a number of findings; for example well-documented mental health benefits accruing to dog companions adding quality to the lives of their owners. Those who own dogs tend to spend more time outdoors than people without dog companions. The very act of being outdoors, much less being physically active, as when taking a dog for a walk, or playing with it outdoors has beneficial health outcomes.

Even stroking a dog can have the effect of lowering an individual's blood pressure; communion of any kind between person and dog benefits both to the extent that physical and mental health are both impacted positively, the recognized pathway through which dog ownership creates a healthier dynamic allowing the person to live more healthily and with an increased life span. A failing in the research does exist in that randomized controlled trials of dog ownership benefiting mortality are few.

Direct studies have simply been overlooked, of the quality that would instruct a group of individuals to acquire a dog, while another group would be without the benefit of a dog present in their lives. Following which the individuals' health would be tracked over time. As the gold standard of evidence with such controlled randomized trials, should they present the solid evidence that is lacking, it would result in definitive assurances that owning a dog causes people to live longer lives.

Despite which, according to Dr. Kazi, the current balance of evidence is convincing enough. The study review controlled for a variety of socio-economic and demographic factors, finding the longevity effect of dog ownership to be assured. Several randomized, controlled studies on pet ownership generally indicated direct benefits of having a companion animal. One study saw a group of cardiac patients randomly instructed to acquire a dog or a cat; the end result being a reduced blood pressure response to stress.

Yet another saw researchers in Korea randomly assigning nursing home residents pet crickets with the direction that they care for the insects for an eight-week period. It was found that the cricket-caring group showed significant improvements on depression measurements and cognitive ability, relative to the control group

Dog Owners' Broken Wrists, Elbows and Fractured Hips

"Dog walker's elbow is an unofficial name given to epicondytitis of the elbow. It was first described in 1981 by an American doctor who noticed the symptoms when walking his dog. The cause is thought to be from overloading the tendon attachments at the elbow from persistent repetitive gripping to control the leash."
"There are some harnesses properly designed to have points to attach the lead, either front-of-chest and on the back. I use the back fastening for long lines in the park, and the front one to teach lovely loose-lead walking."
"In some early cases, anti-inflammatory medication may help. Physiotherapy is the best first-line treatment and in cases like dog walkers, where they may not be able to avoid the competitive loading, a tennis-elbow splint might help."
"This [tennis-elbow split] is an activity splint that should not be used at rest and needs to be properly positioned to be effective. If pain is persisting despite these remedies, patients should seek medical advice and an elbow surgeon can assess and investigate as necessary to make sure nothing else sinister is going on in the elbow."
Dr. Nick Ferran, consultant trauma and orthopedic surgeon, The Lister Hospital, London

Injuries typically happen when a dog pulls on a leash and walkers lose their balance.    Getty Images

Women, particularly older women, are increasingly showing up at hospital emergency rooms with injuries resulting from dog walking. Walking their dogs. Mostly women, and mostly older women because they have more fragile bones than men their age, and lack the muscular strength of men of all ages. According to a University of Pennsylvania Medicine study published in JAMA Surgery, women over 65 are particularly at risk. Studying emergency room visits the researchers found hip fractures the most common injury followed by fractures of the wrist and upper arm.

Companion dogs, it is well known, add quality to the lives of people. And for those lacking human company, a companion dog serves to fill emotional gaps and solve an issue of loneliness. Having someone to share life with, from ordinary daily events to simply sharing intimate space with a caring creature whose intelligence serves to aid in communication, adds immense quality to life. Walking a dog is an invaluable aid to exercising in the open air, the result of which will be a healthier person and a healthy dog, both of whom can also count on weight control resulting from daily walks.

Dog owners risk serious hand injuries caused by collars and leads: surgeons

Of course it makes eminently good sense that older people, particularly women, focus on a small dog as a companion. Even small dogs are capable of exerting great muscular momentum when they pull; hugely exacerbated the larger a dog is. Dog training exercises are always recommended as a learning tool enabling an individual to teach their dog to obey commands, chief among them solving behavioural issues and dog-walking protocols.

For the elderly there are always issues such as inattention, and having a dog underfoot that can result in a fall, being inadvertently tripped, and experiencing a fall serious enough for a hip injury which in older women can end up being fatal. And then there is dog-walker's elbow, wrist or shoulder caused by repetitive strain injury, when a dog persistently pulls ahead and the walker attempts fruitlessly, to restrain the dog. It  helps to know how to walk a dog on a leash, and wrapping a leash around one's wrists or hands is unhelpful, while using a retractable leash is preferential.

Dog owners are suffering injuries by holding their dogs the wrong way, as this graphic shows

Everyone has experienced the sudden surprise of a dog leaping forward to charge ahead when a squirrel has been sighted and the dog assumes it is free to bound ahead and chase after the small animal. If someone is walking a small dog when that happens the result is the walker is surprised but firmly holding the leash, it is the dog that is even more surprised when it abruptly discovers it can go so far and no further. If it's a large dog being walked and which suddenly, unexpectedly leaps after a squirrel, it can take the walker alongside momentarily, just before slipping and thudding to the ground.

How to walk the dog safely

• Don’t wrap the leash around your hand or wrist.
• Use a retractable leash.
• Take your dog to obedience school.
• Pay attention. Don't text and walk.

Today

"We call Boyare [five-year-old 77-lb.rescue dog, part 'Staffie, part kitchen sink'] 'Yank Pullarmski'. He assumes we share his desire to eradicate the world of squirrels and cats. His eyesight is much better than ours, so the first we know is when he yanks an arm."
"I'm convinced that one arm is now several centimetres longer than the other."
"Our dog walker, disturbingly, has shoulder problems now and has just had an MRI."
Julia Leonard, food writer, culinary salon host, London

Taking Note of Potential Dog-Walking Risks for Seniors

"Dog walking, which has repeatedly demonstrated social, emotional and physical health benefits, is a popular and frequently recommended activity for many older Americans seeking new ways to stay active."
"This study highlights that while there are undoubtedly pros to dog walking, patients’ risks for falls must be factored into lifestyle recommendations in an effort to minimize such injuries."
Kevin Pirruccio, medical student, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

"We make all these recommendations about pets, and yet we don't really understand if there are potential negative implications."
"There are things we should be aware of before saying, 'Hey, you should get a dog and take your dog for a walk'."
Jaimo Ahn, associate professor of orthopedic surgery, Penn Medicine

A growing body of research is discovering that pet ownership and health and happiness go together. But this is also a new area of study, without having as yet achieved any robust sample sizes or control. Now a new study, while validating that seniors who bring companion pets into their homes and respond to the dogs' need to exercise -- taking them out for daily walks -- are in the process aiding their own health for the better, it is the very act of walking with a leashed dog that "imparts a significant and rising injury risk in older adults".

Unsurprising, since leashed dogs are known to pull impatiently, are able to walk more speedily than their people; dogs sometimes get underfoot and cause stumbles; and if an older person is walking on uneven ground, it presents no hazard for a four-footed animal, but it might for a human. Dogs can get into an altercation with another dog while on leash. In short, any number of causes for a stumble or a fall can arise when walking a leashed dog in an outdoor environment. Winter walks present even more challenges with icy surfaces underfoot.

The University of Pennsylvania researchers' study found that between 2004 and 2017, bone fractures associated with walking leashed dogs doubled, and then some, among U.S. residents 65 years of age and up, of whom eight in ten who suffered fractures were women. The most commonly injured bones were in the hips, wrists and upper arms. The U.S. Consumer Products Commission which records injuries, reported a nationally representative sample of some 100 emergency rooms nationwide and produced a public data base of dog-walking fractures.

Those fractures increased from 1,572 reported in 2004 to 4,396 in 2017, a reported number of incidents that rose at a significantly higher rate as compared to the overall number of fractures. Baby boomers, pointed out Dr. Ahn, are more active than their counterparts in previous generations, and he believes that health-care providers are increasingly suggesting to their patients that having a dog in their household would give them an incentive to get out and get walking, to improve their overall health, without thinking through to important caveats.

The study, published in JAMA Surgery, focused exclusively on seniors, representing a group that Dr. Ahn felt his team of researchers recognized as most vulnerable to this type of physical injury, for whom broken bones can result in a particularly insidious outcome. The study, emphasized Dr. Ahn, was not meant to discourage seniors from acquiring dogs as pets, nor to get out walking with them. Health care providers, he stated, should ideally discuss risks with patients and older people in particular.

Karen Arnold via Wikicommons