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----------------------------------------------------------------- Pet-Power and Parkinson's ---------------------------------------------------------------- I've had pets longer than I've had Parkinson's Disease (PD). I was diagnosed with PD in 1988, at age 41. I have had cats virtually continuously since adopting Samantha in 1968. I suspected way back then that I was onto a good thing, but now the facts are in. Research has proven that companion animals are good for our health; pets lower our stress levels. As compared to non-pet-owners, pet-owners exhibit significantly reduced autonomic responses (heart rate and blood pressure) to stressful events. Almost half of surveyed psychiatrists, psychologists, and physicians have prescribed or recommended pets to their patients. Pet-owners need fewer doctor visits, sleep better, and have lower cholesterol; any increase in physical activity due to pet-ownership strengthens the heart, improves circulation, and slows bone loss; all regardless of the species of animal or the age or medical condition of the human. Play is said to be healthy: I know that play is fun. Stubby comes running when called for a game of pull-the-tail. Spud plays soccer with ice-cubes. Stella gets bug-eyed with anticipation as soon as I start folding paper to make origami stars for her to chase. They never know whether Mom will be playing hide-and-seek with them at a turtle-ish PD pace or at a snappy clip. My PD cyber-family have fun with pets too. My adopted cyber-dad Don has a tree-climbing beagle named Mitzi, who nevertheless comes into the house once an hour or so to check up on him. Pets are 'social facilitators'. They can ease awkward situations by providing talking points and distraction, and can help their owners meet and interact with others on common ground. Since I live alone, my local community group has organised a daily reassurance telephone call. I haven't met my caller Louise in person, but we have become friends thanks in large part to her large cat Squeekie. Each morning we compare notes on our respective cat-family antics, and each morning starts with a smile if not a laugh. While watching 'The Young and the Feline' entertainment hour unfold, my sister and I have fun verbalising imagined scripts for each of the players. Speckles also has a whale of a time, (at 8 pounds) taking down either of the boys (at 14 and 18 pounds), with flying tackles! Who needs television? Approximately half of all people with PD also have clinical depression (CD). Pet-owners suffer significantly less depression than non-pet-owners, and can better view stressful events as challenges to be overcome, rather than as hopeless quandaries. That change in perception is key to overcoming CD and ending the chronic negative thinking at its core. Loneliness has been defined as 'not knowing others and not being known by others'. Pets can be our closest, and sometimes our only, companions. Very isolated people can feel their pets give them a reason to live; they feel needed. Pets offer unqualified affection. When I feel a tad frazzled and need to re-group, I pick Speckles up and press my ear to her rib-cage. She instantly produces a prodigious purr which she will bump up into overdrive if needed. For an alternative kind of lift, Stubby, the clown of the household, makes me laugh out loud at least once every day. This unambiguous exchange of affection in our pet relationships can differ mightily from our human relationships. We perceive our animal companions as non-judgmental and supportive, whereas we may perceive our human companions as evaluative and potentially critical. None of my pets has ever displayed any concern over my hair-style, or my mobility-speed, or my disability-pension income-level. While our human-human relationships are primarily based on verbal communication, our human-animal relationships are limited to nonverbal communication. This skill may be useful if the pet-owner has PD-related facial mask effect or voice weakness. The monetary value of benefits attributed directly to 'Pet-Power' has been calculated by national health services at 9 million Dollars (actual) in Australia, 5 billion Euros (actual) in Germany, and 1 billion Pounds (projected) in the United Kingdom. Health benefits have been detected in new pet-owners as early as just one month after acquiring their pet. The facts are in and the time is now! Janet Paterson References and sources available on request. For more of my pet stories, see 'tales of tails' at www.janetpaterson.net To share your pet stories with me, e-mail [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------- as published in the Parkinson Society Ottawa Newsletter -- janet paterson a new voice ~ www.janetpaterson.net pd: 56-41-37 ~ cd: 56-44-43 ~ tel: 613-256-8340 an akinetic rigid subtype, albeit primarily perky, parky ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn