宠物与你的健康息息相关：这些利弊一定要记住

拥有一只毛茸茸的朋友，一定对你的健康有好处，对吗？研究表明，养宠物对心理和生理健康有诸多裨益，但也可能造成消极影响。

研究表明，养一只宠物（尤其是养狗），不仅可以温暖你的心房，而且还能让心脏更加健康。

哈佛医学院的一篇报告指出，一些研究显示养宠物的人往往血压水平更低，而且更能保持健康体重。并且，养狗的人每周锻炼的时间可能会达到两个半小时，这也是专家推荐的锻炼时长。

Studies have shown pet owners tend to have lower blood pressure and are more likely to maintain a healthy weight, according to a Harvard Medical School report. Dog owners are also more likely to get the two and a half hours of exercise each week that experts recommend.

这项研究为美国心脏协会（AHA）以前的一些研究结果提供了支撑。先前的研究发现，养宠物，尤其是养狗，与心脏病风险降低有关联，这可能是因为狗主人更有可能通过遛狗来进行定期的体育活动。

This research supports previous findings from the American Heart Association that showed having a pet, and particularly dog ownership, is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease, perhaps due to dog owners being more likely to engage in regular physical activity by walking them. 

宠物对你的心理健康也有裨益，它们能给你的心理带来许多好处，例如减轻孤独感，还有纾解压力、焦虑与抑郁。

Pets can be good for your mental health too, bringing psychological benefits such as reducing loneliness and easing stress, anxiety and depression.

早些时候，Elizabeth Frates博士告诉CBS新闻记者：“当狗主人注视狗狗的眼睛并且抚摸它时，主人的体内会释放催产素（oxytocin），即爱意的激素。”此外，她还提到，抚摸狗狗能降低人体内的压力激素——皮质醇（cortisol）的水平。

这个发现能帮助解释为什么宠物疗法*在过去几十年来人气变得越来越高。研究发现，在医院的治疗流程中，如果冒出来一只狗子，病人会变得更开心、更机警、更活跃，并且会减少焦虑。

*宠物疗法：一种借由宠物的陪伴，来舒缓患者的心理疾病与治疗过程中的焦虑情绪的医疗辅助手段。

This helps explain why pet therapy programs have grown in popularity in past decades. Research has found that patients are happier, more alert, active and less anxious when a pooch pops by during hospital treatments. 

良好的睡眠对健康非常重要，而你的宠物有时可能会从中捣蛋。

一篇近日发表于期刊Human-Animal Interactions的研究发现，养宠物可能会造成睡眠质量下降。研究结果显示，养狗会增加患睡眠失调和睡眠障碍的几率，而养猫可能会导致腿部抽搐的几率上升。

The findings showed having a dog was associated with greater odds of having a sleep disorder and having trouble sleeping, while having a cat was associated with a higher chance of having leg jerks.

那些和自己心爱的宠物共享床铺的“爸爸妈妈”们，可能并不会为这项研究的结果感到惊讶——尤其是你的狗子睡走了一半的床，或者你的猫猫喜欢在深夜猛扑你的脚的这些情况下。

Pet parents who share their bed with their beloved animals may not be surprised by these findings — especially if your dog takes up half the bed or your cat likes to take late-night pounces at your feet.

该研究提出：“虽然我们无法在养宠物和睡眠质量下降、睡眠失调之间建立起因果关系，但本研究的结果和先前的研究是相符的，先前研究已经表明，养宠物会对睡眠质量造成负面影响。”

While the causal nature of pet ownership on sleep quality and sleep disorders was unable to be established, the results of the study are consistent with previous studies that found that pet ownership has a negative impact on sleep quality.

专家建议就宠物究竟睡在什么地方，以及其对睡眠造成的影响开展进一步的研究。

尽管宠物能带来很多快乐，但当心爱的狗子或者猫猫生病时，给主人造成的情绪损伤也可能会非常大。

一项2017年的研究发现，照顾生病的宠物往往会给主人带来巨大的照顾者负担（caregiver burden）。

该研究的作者Spitznagel此前向CBS新闻解释说：从本质上讲，照顾者负担是指当关爱行为将人的生理、情感，乃至经济上的承受能力绷紧到了临界点时，人可能会遭受异常沉重的情感创伤。

Essentially, it's the heavy emotional toll one can experience when the act of caring stretches a person's physical, emotional or even financial capacities to the breaking point.

Spitznagel说：“我们发现，与健康宠物的主人相比，患有慢性病或绝症的宠物的主人身上承受了更大的照顾者负担。大多数主人将宠物视为自己家庭的一份子，所以宠物监护人的情绪反应，与我们经常在照顾生病家人的人身上看到的反应相似，也就不足为奇了。”

We found that individuals with a chronically or terminally ill pet showed greater caregiver burden compared to those with a healthy pet. Most pet owners consider their pet to be part of the family, so it was not a surprise that the pet caregiver's emotional response would be similar in nature to the response we often see in people providing care for a sick family member.