People who have a cat can reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke by more than a third, researchers have found.
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Owning a cat as a pet helps to relieve stress and anxiety, which is known to help protect against heart disease by lowering blood pressure and reducing the heart rate.
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Researchers at Minnesota University looked at 4,435 adults aged between 30 and 75, about half of whom owned a cat. The findings, presented at a stroke conference, showed that 3.4% of the cat owners died from a heart attack over 10 years. But among the group who had never owned a cat, the rate was nearly double.
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Cat owners still had a much reduced chance of developing a stroke or heart attacks when researchers took account of other factors known to trigger heart disease, including excess weight and obesity, high cholesterol levels, smoking and Diabetes.
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Study leader Professor Adnan Qureshi said he was surprised by the strength of the effect that owning a cat appeared to have.
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“The logical explanation may be that cat ownership relieves stress and anxiety and subsequently reduces the risk of heart diseases,” he said.
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Professor Qureshi believes one reason could be that stroking the pet may cut the level of stress-related hormones in the blood. But he added that the type of person who owned a cat was usually already fairly stress-free and at low risk of heart disease.
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A balanced, nutritious PCOSÂ diet combined with regular exercise can help reverse an underlying cause of heart disease, namely the excess weight and obesity-linked imbalance of blood glucose and insulin called Insulin Resistance. By reversing this latter condition, you can facilitate Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome weight loss.
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