'Healthier hearts' for cat owners (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

Cat owners appear to have a much lower risk of dying from a heart attack than their feline-spurning counterparts, a study suggests.

Researchers looked at nearly 4,500 adults and found that cat ownership was related to a 40% lower risk of suffering a fatal heart attack.

The team speculated that having a cat may reduce stress and anxiety, and so protect against cardiovascular disease.

The findings of the study were unveiled at the International Stroke Conference.

The study, led by Professor Adnan Qureshi at the University of Minnesota, suggested that even those who no longer owned a cat benefited from these protective effects.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7304393.stm

I wanted to start a cat thread in LBN, but it looks like the deadline is past for this article ... :)

[thunder rising]

1. All that sneezing does you good aye?

[aquart]

3. Piffle. When you meet YOUR cat, you will not sneeze.

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Sneezing is aerobic to the max! :D

Especially if it's a nice, long, sneezing spell.:evilgrin:

[redwitch]

2. It's the purring.

Pure magic! Yay kittehs!

[onehandle]

4. I knew we had these little bastards around for a reason.

Purrrrrr.....

[HockeyMom]

5. All that purring relaxes you

I also once had a cat who could tell when that when I cried I was unhappy. He would jump onto my lap, purr, and lick my face.

It is true.

[mcctatas]

6. Someone needs to tell my cat...

the older he gets, the more neurotic he gets, his new thing is to jump on me when I'm sleeping, bite my eyebrow and run away...not heart friendly!

[Donnachaidh]

8. is he a solitary kitty?

Get him another furball to play with. One is a lonely number for a cat.

[mcctatas]

14. I tried that, he was having none of it...

he likes dogs for some reason, but I don't so if he wants a pet he's going to have to get his own apartment...I think it's partly because winter has gone on so long and he can't get out in the backyard to play (I would say stalk birds, but when he found a baby sparrow that had fallen out of it's nest, he just sniffed it and walked away...no killer instinct I guess). Whatever the case, he does at least keep it interesting (14 years worth of interesting). :)

[Greyskye]

9. In Case of Emergency:

[eppur_se_muova]

12. LOL! A modern essential! nt

[Celebration]

10. Awwwww

I love my (late, now deceased) fuzzy furballs.

[CountAllVotes]

11. my beloved cats

keep me sane!

:loveya: :D :D :D :D

:dem:

[MikeDuffy]

13. Maybe it's the personality type of people attracted to owning cats

that are less prone to heart attacks...

[supernova]

15. It is very calming

to sit with a cat in your lap at stroke it. It's good for the cat and good for you too. :-) Probably the same thing with a dog, eventhough I am not a dog person.

And in general, I think caring for the pet is good for you too. If you live alone, focusing on its needs gives you something outside yourself to care about. When you live alone, it's too easy to get self-absorbed to an unhealthy degree. Balance is good.