2022 More than a third of respondents reported in a survey of 3,000 adults in the US that they feel “completely overwhelmed” for many days due to stress. At the same time, more and more studies are documenting the negative health consequences of higher stress levels, including increased cancer speed, heart disease, autoimmune conditions and even dementia.
Assuming that people’s daily life is unlikely to cause less stress, but there will be less stress at any time, simple and effective ways to relieve this effect.
Here, dogs can help.
As researchers at the University of Denver University, the Institute of Human and Vital Liaison, we are investigating the impact of their companions in their humans.
Dozens of studies have confirmed in the last 40 years that pet dogs help people feel more relaxed. This would explain the growing phenomenon of people relying on emotional support for dog support to help them navigate in their daily lives. It has also been shown that dog owners have 24% lower risk of death and four times more likely to survive at least a year after a heart attack.
Now a new study we have done with a team of colleagues shows that dogs can have a deeper and biologically complex impact on people than scientists previously thought. And this complexity can have a major impact on human health.
How stress works
The human reaction to stress is a finely aligned and matched set of various physiological paths. Previous research on human stress on human stress focused on one way at a time. For our research, we have a slight increase and measured several biological body status or biomarkers from both major body stress pathways. This allowed us to create a more detailed picture of how the presence of a dog affects the stress of the human body.
Our measured stress paths are hypothalamus-pituitary-anthinxes, or HPA, axis and sympathetic radrenal medullary, or SAM, axis.
The survey found that more than a third of respondents feel “completely overwhelmed” by stress (“getty”)
When a person experiences a stressful event, Sam Axis quickly behaves, causing a “fight or flight” response that covers an adrenaline influx that causes an energy explosion that helps us satisfy the threats. This response can be measured through an enzyme called alpha-amilaze.
At the same time, but slightly slower, the HPA axis activates the adrenal glands to get the hormone cortisol. This can help a person satisfy the threats that can last for several hours or even days. If everything goes well, when the danger ends, both axes settle and the body returns to its calm state.
Although stress can be an uncomfortable feeling, it was important to survive people. The ancestors of our hunter-gathers had to respond effectively to acute stress events, such as animal attack. In such cases, too much reacting may be as ineffective as not responding sufficiently. Being in the optimal stress reaction area increases people’s survival opportunities.
More history
After the cortisol has been released by the adrenal gland, it eventually enters your saliva, making it an easily accessible biomarker to follow the answers. For this reason, most dogs and stress studies focused only on salivary cortisol.
For example, several studies have found that people with a stressful situation have a lower cortisol response if they are with a dog than if they are alone – even smaller than if they are with a friend.
Although these studies have shown that a nearby dog may decrease cortisol levels in a stressful event, stating that a person is calmer, we suspect that it was only part of the story.
What did our study appreciate
For our research, we employed about 40 dog owners to participate in a 15 -minute gold standard laboratory test. This includes public speaking and oral mathematics against a group of expressive people posing as behavioral professionals.
Participants were accidentally assigned to take their dogs to the laboratory with them or leave their dogs at home. We measured cortisol in blood samples taken earlier, immediately after the test as a HPA axis biomarker. And unlike previous studies, we also measured the enzyme alpha-amylase in the same blood samples as the SAM axis biomarker.
People who had their own dog showed smaller cortisol spikes (220 independent studios – stock.adobe.com)
As expected, according to previous studies, people who had their own dog showed smaller cortisol spikes. But we also found that people with their dog experienced a clear alpha-amylase spike, and those who do not have a dog, almost no answer.
No answer can look like a good thing, but in reality the flat alpha-amylase response may be a sign of an unregulated response to stress, often seen by people with high stress reaction, chronic stress or even PTSS. This lack of response is caused by chronic or huge stress, which can change our nervous system response to stressors.
On the contrary, participants had a more balanced response with their dogs: their cortisol levels were not too high, but their alpha-amylase was still active. This shows that they were alert and engaged throughout the test, then they could return to normal within 45 minutes. This is a great place to effectively manage stress. Our research shows that our dog companions support us in a healthy response zone.
Dogs and people’s health
This nuanced understanding of a dog’s biological effect on human stress reaction opens up interesting opportunities. Based on the results of our study, our team has launched a new study using thousands of biomarkers to delve deeper into the biology, how the psychiatric service dogs reduce PTSS military veterans.
But one thing is clear: dogs are not just a good company. They can be only one of the most affordable and effective tools that allow you to stay in a healthy stress world.
Kevin Morris is a professor of social work at Denver University.
Jaci Gandenberger is a social work scientist at Denver University.
This article has been published from a conversation under the Creative Commons license. Read Original article;