How pets influence owners' health
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On [1252](http://www.bmj.com/lookup/volpage/331/1252) McNicholas and colleagues discuss the effects that pets might have on their owners' health. Studies in the 1980s suggested many beneficial effects of owning a pet, such as higher survival rates after myocardial infarction, but recent studies have failed to replicate many of these findings. However, pet ownership and health can be viewed in a wider context, say the authors, and discuss the effects that pets can have on wellbeing (physical and mental) and social integration.

  
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Credit: DAN CALLISTER/REX

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