Having Pets Can Make You Healthier

Pets love you unconditionally and they make you smile -- so it probably comes as no surprise that pets are good medicine. A study of 48 stockbrokers finds having a pet can actually lower your blood pressure.

The study, from the State University of New York at Buffalo, looks at male and female stockbrokers already taking medication to control high blood pressure. Researchers say those with a pet nearby during stressful encounters experienced half the increase in blood pressure as those who did not own a pet.

Lead author, Dr. Karen Allen, calls the results "dramatic and significant." She says while medication can lower blood pressure, it cannot relieve stress and that can force blood pressure back up.

The research team says it chose a dog or cat for each stockbroker at the beginning of the study and soon the study participants became very attached to their pets. Six months later, Allen says, many of the stockbrokers in the medication-only control group went out and got themselves a pet.