Health Japanese study: Dog owners have 40% less dementia risk

[thomas]

According to a research team from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, older adults who owned dogs they had a 40% lower risk of developing dementia compared to those who did not, while keeping cats had only a marginal effect.

Dog care helps people maintain daily exercise habits and opportunities for social participation, leading to a lower risk of developing dementia.

The study included 11,194 people aged between 65 and 84 who cooperated in an epidemiological survey conducted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and the team of researchers examined the percentage of people who developed dementia between 2016 and 2020. The "odds ratio," which indicates the risk of developing the disease, was calculated as 0.6 for dog owners and 0.98 for cat owners, compared to 1 for those who did not own dogs or cats.

Dog owners have 40% less dementia risk, while cats have little impact: Japan study - The Mainichi

TOKYO -- Elderly people who owned dogs had a 40% lower risk of developing dementia compared to those who did not, while keeping cats had only a margin

mainichi.jp

So, two dogs mean 80% risk reduction, right?

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I didn't know pets could have dementia till it happened to one of my cats. She lived to be 18 and in her last year she was very different. At night she would stay awake all night wondering all over the house howling very loudly. She went from being an attention loving cat who always wanted to be on us or near us to like we were invisible.