Pet owners have long known or rather, have felt that spending time with their beloved animal companion lowers stress and improves mood. In fact, a review concluded that pets should be part of patient care plans because of their valuable contribution to people's mental health and well-being. Now, new research adds more scientific credibility to these claims examining how interacting with pets affects cortisol levels among college students. "Students in the study that interacted with cats and dogs had a significant reduction in cortisol, a major stress hormone. What we wanted to learn was whether this exposure would help students reduce their stress in a less subjective way. And it did, which is exciting because the reduction of stress hormones may, over time, have significant benefits for physical and mental health." Says, Patricia Pendry. Overall, the analysis revealed that the students who interacted with the animals had significantly lower cortisol levels after the intervention. These effects occurred regardless of whether the participants' initial cortisol levels were very high or very low at the start of the study. (Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com)
