Strong evidence suggests that individuals diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have higher rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and adult-onset type 2 diabetes, and the mechanisms are still being explored middle. In a recent study, individuals with PTSD showed increased sympathetic arousal but decreased myocardial contractility. Rorabaugh and colleagues found an allergic response to cardiac ischemia in rats exposed to predator stress. It has been suggested that inflammation may mediate the relationship between PTSD and insulin resistance in young veterans. There is also interest in whether and how improving PTSD can reduce the risk of CVD and diabetes, targeting behavioral risk factors known to be elevated for CVD in PTSD, such as smoking, alcohol abuse, poor diet, and physical inactivity.

Dog ownership is a widely supported complementary and alternative intervention for PTSD measure. Dog ownership has been shown to be associated with enhanced heart health in the general population. Mubanga and colleagues used Sweden's general population register to compare records of all people aged 40 to 80 years in 2001 with a register of all dogs owned at that time. After adjusting for multiple covariates across 3,432,153 samples and assuming a dog lifespan of 10 years, the study found that dog ownership was associated with CVD (acute myocardial infarction + heart failure + ischemic stroke + hemorrhagic stroke) mortality The reduced likelihood of association is supported. Over the 12-year follow-up period, the risk reduction was greater among those who lived alone. A follow-up study by Mubanga et al found a similar pattern of risk reduction in a large cohort (n = 181,696) within 12 years of first myocardial infarction. Kramer et al reviewed smaller studies with similar results.

The study investigated whether owning a dog may also have benefits for cardiovascular disease and diabetes in U.S. veterans. Veterans are older than civilians, predominantly male, and have increased rates of CVD, diabetes, and mental and substance use disorders. At the same time, cat ownership was also used as a control variable in the study.

Data are from the National Health and Resilience of Veterans Study (NHRVS) 2019-2020 cohort. Previous NHRVS studies have considered a broad range of topics, including veterans' physical health, mental health, aging and suicidality. The mean (SD) age of the sample was 62.6 (15.4) years, and 9.7% were female.

The issue of pet ownership is embedded in the mental health outcomes section.

Table 1 Prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases (by dog ​​ownership status)

Dog owners have lower rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol, but they do not reduce the chances of heart attack or stroke.

Image of prevalence of cardiometabolic disease by cat ownership status

Prevalence of cat ownership and any assessed cardiometabolic disease status compared with dog ownership/ Morbidity is irrelevant.

Prevalence of cardiovascular disease-related indicators (by dog ​​ownership status)

Compared with people who do not own dogs, dog owners are younger and more likely to be female , are more likely to report traumatic events.

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

Logistic regression results show that the prevalence of high cholesterol and hypertension in dog owners is significantly reduced , but has nothing to do with other indicators.