by Angeline N Ong

Charles Denson’s face brightens as a speckled shepherd cuddles next to him while he rests in his hotel bed. “ You’ve got a pretty coat,” the 51 year old heart patient says while stroking Bart’s soft fur.

New research indicates that hospitals that use such pet therapy sessions are not barking up the wrong tree. This novel study was one of the first to use scientific measurements to document that therapeutic dogs lower anxiety, stress and heart and lung pressure among heart failure patients.

“ You can see it on their face, first you see a smile, and then you see the worries of the world roll off their shoulders,” said Kathy Cole, a nurse at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Centre.
Cole and her colleagues studied 76 heart failure patients – average age 57 years – who got either a visit from a volunteer plus a dog or no visit.

Anxiety dropped 24% for those who were visited by the dog & volunteer team, but only by 10% for those visited by just a volunteer. The anxiety score for those with no visit remained the same.

Levels of epinephrine, a hormone the body makes when under stress, dropped 17% in patients visited by a dog & volunteer, and 2% in those visited just by a volunteer. But levels rose about 7% in the group with no visitors.

Heart pressure dropped 10% after the visit by the volunteer & dog. It increased 3% for those visited by a volunteer, and 5% for those who got no visit.

Cole said she hoped the study, funded by the Pet Care Trust Foundation, a non-profit organization, promotes the value of animals in society, and helps show that pet therapy is a credible addition to patient care, not just a nicety.

In Dallas, Linda Marier’s animal assisted therapy program for the Baylor Health Care System has grown from one dog in 1985 to 84 dogs today. “ It makes the hospital seem less like a hospital and it lowers people’s blood pressure,” says Marier.

For by-pass patient, Danny Smith, being visited by a furry friend, was a highlight of his stay.

“It was very relieving because all they wanted to do was give you love ”, said Smith Oceanside, Calif.

Leslie Kern, director of cardiac research for the Heart Institute at Memorial Medical Centre, Long Beach Calif, said such visits help make patients more normal.

Editor: In Malaysia, such a novel therapy will be impossible because of the attitudes towards dogs, what more for people to expect such a value being entrusted on dogs!