Being Exposed to Dogs Leads to a Lower Risk of Schizophrenia: Study

A dog may be your best friend. And if you’re raising children, you might want to consider making one theirs as well.

A study done at Johns Hopkins Medicine has found that being around dogs throughout childhood could decrease your chances of developing schizophrenia as an adult.

It sounds wild but the evidence is based in fact.

“Serious psychiatric disorders have been associated with alterations in the immune system linked to environmental exposures in early life,” said Robert Yolken, M.D., chair of the Stanley Division of Pediatric Neurovirology and professor of neurovirology in pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Centre.

But having a dog seems to decrease your chances of developing at least one, it seems.

How effective are our four-legged friends? Scientists involved in the study say that being around a pet dog regularly before the age 13 can mean you are significantly less likely to develop schizophrenia. In fact, your risk could be as low as 24% less likely.

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Why this is the case, researchers aren’t certain.

“There are several plausible explanations for this possible ‘protective’ effect from contact with dogs — perhaps something in the canine microbiome that gets passed to humans and bolsters the immune system against or subdues a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia,” said Yolken.

What about cats? Felines were found to be neither positive nor negative animals to have as childhood pets, when it comes to schizophrenia. Previous studies have found that many people living with serious psychiatric disorders have high levels of antibodies to the toxoplasmosis parasite in their system. This parasite can be transmitted to humans via animal feces, such as the poop in cat litter boxes. But experts waffle when it comes to seeing exposure to cats as one of the leading causes of mental conditions.

So, it seems that having Garfield at your side isn’t such a problem. And finding a pet Spot could be a good idea.

Almost 4 million dogs enter animal shelters each year. Why not take a look if your searching? It can’t hurt.

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