Pet Ownership and Cardiovascular Risk

Levine, Glenn N.; Allen, Karen; Braun, Lynne T.; Christian, Hayley; Friedmann, Erika; Taubert, Kathryn A.; Thomas, Sue; Wells, Deborah L.; Lange, Richard A.

doi:10.1161/cir.0b013e31829201e1

Cited by 244 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…We did not have an eligibility restriction based on smartphone or Internet literacy, although all subjects confirmed having access to e‐mail for pertinent trial communication. We recorded demographic and clinical characteristics, including dog ownership, because it is thought to have a positive effect on the owner by modifying their cognitive beliefs about walking, providing motivation, and providing social support for walking 10. All patients continued to receive routine care and gave written informed consent.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mActive: A Randomized Clinical Trial of an Automated mHealth Intervention for Physical Activity Promotion

Martin

Feldman

Blumenthal

et al. 2015

JAHA

253

360

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BackgroundWe hypothesized that a fully automated mobile health (mHealth) intervention with tracking and texting components would increase physical activity.Methods and Results mActive enrolled smartphone users aged 18 to 69 years at an ambulatory cardiology center in Baltimore, Maryland. We used sequential randomization to evaluate the intervention's 2 core components. After establishing baseline activity during a blinded run‐in (week 1), in phase I (weeks 2 to 3), we randomized 2:1 to unblinded versus blinded tracking. Unblinding allowed continuous access to activity data through a smartphone interface. In phase II (weeks 4 to 5), we randomized unblinded participants 1:1 to smart texts versus no texts. Smart texts provided smartphone‐delivered coaching 3 times/day aimed at individual encouragement and fostering feedback loops by a fully automated, physician‐written, theory‐based algorithm using real‐time activity data and 16 personal factors with a 10 000 steps/day goal. Forty‐eight outpatients (46% women, 21% nonwhite) enrolled with a mean±SD age of 58±8 years, body mass index of 31±6 kg/m2, and baseline activity of 9670±4350 steps/day. Daily activity data capture was 97.4%. The phase I change in activity was nonsignificantly higher in unblinded participants versus blinded controls by 1024 daily steps (95% confidence interval [CI], −580 to 2628; P=0.21). In phase II, participants receiving texts increased their daily steps over those not receiving texts by 2534 (95% CI, 1318 to 3750; P<0.001) and over blinded controls by 3376 (95% CI, 1951 to 4801; P<0.001).ConclusionsAn automated tracking‐texting intervention increased physical activity with, but not without, the texting component. These results support new mHealth tracking technologies as facilitators in need of behavior change drivers.Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://ClinicalTrials.gov/. Unique identifier: NCT01917812.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mActive: A Randomized Clinical Trial of an Automated mHealth Intervention for Physical Activity Promotion

Martin

Feldman

Blumenthal

et al. 2015

JAHA

253

360

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…We chose saliva because one fundamental aspect of the human-canine bond is the gesture of licking that spreads oral cavity microbes on the recipient's skin surface. Recognizing that L. reuteri ATCC 6475 bacteria collected from human milk was found to up-regulate oxytocin when fed to mouse models [30], and that oxytocin is pivotal in caninehuman bonds and weight control [2, [36][37][38], we postulated that dogs may harbor and spread similar microbes that modulate oxytocin and impart a slim physique in the recipient. To test this possibility, we first interrogated the canine oral microbiome using molecular assays and microbial culture (Figure 1).…”

Section: Canine Oral Bacterial Flora Includes Lactobacillus Sppmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beneficial Dog Bacteria Up-Regulate Oxytocin and Lower Risk of Obesity

Varian¹,

Levkovich²,

Poutahidis³

et al. 2017

J Prob Health

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AnimalsC57BL/6 wild type (wt), oxytocin-wt (oxt-wt) and oxytocin- AbstractCohabitation with pet dogs imparts diverse health benefits to humans including a slim physique. It is known that neuropeptide hormone oxytocin fundamental in human-canine social bonds regulates appetite and body weight. It was recently shown in mice that consuming Lactobacillus reuteri ATCC 6475 from human breast milk lowers body weight and up-regulates oxytocin levels in blood. Here we test the hypothesis that bacteria from dog saliva may similarly modulate recipient host body weight. We find that a Lactobacillus spp isolate from dog saliva led to lower body weight when fed to C57BL/6 wild type mice. Mice consuming the canineborne L. reuteri also had elevated oxytocin levels in blood plasma, and exhibited body weight in an oxytocin-dependent manner. Interestingly, killed (lysed) canine bacteria were sufficient to achieve the physiological effects. Taken together, these studies provide evidence that dog bacteria modulate oxytocin levels and body weight in recipient mice, and thus may help reduce risk of obesity in individuals cohabitating with pet dogs. knockout (oxt-ko) B6; 129S-Oxttm1Wsy/J mice (purchased initially from Jackson labs; Bar Harbor, ME) were used in three separate experiments (Figure 1). Mice were housed and handled in Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC)-accredited facilities using techniques and diets including Lactobacillus reuteri as specifically approved by Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Committee on Animal Care (CAC). Mice were housed under standard 12:12 light cycle conditions with lights on at 7 AM. Mice were fed a standard control chow Purina RMH3000. Beneficial Dog Bacteria Up-Regulate Oxytocin and Lower Risk of ObesityMice were bred in-house to achieve experimental groups. Each experiment included 5-15 animals per group with one or two replications (total N=10-30 mice examined per group) unless otherwise specified. For the initial studies, C57BL/6 wt mice received Lactobacillus reuteri 2546 isolated from dog saliva. To test putative roles for microbeinduced oxytocin in obesity, oxt-ko mice and their oxt-wt littermates entered experiments at eight weeks of age. At the conclusion of the study mice were euthanized with CO 2 overdose, and were examined as described below. Eight pet dogs served as saliva microbe donors as approved by the MIT-CAC. Saliva was collected from these dogs in the morning before feeding using sterile swabs [Puritan Sterile Polyester Tipped applicators Guilford, Me Ref: 25-806 1PD] in 1.5 ml centrifuge tubes (Safeseal Microcentrifuge Tubes, Sorenson Bioscience Inc. Salt Lace City, UT Cat# 16070). Bacteria were purified from dog saliva as described in detail below. PCR of dog saliva for all Lactobacillus speciesSaliva was collected from eight pet dogs and prepared using High Pure PCR Template kit (Roche Diagnostics) was used without changes to the manufacturer's directions to isolate DNA from the canine saliva. DNA was measured using Nan...

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“…25 Having pets benefits individual health by encouraging regular exercise and healthy eating patterns, 26 and by improving physiologic parameters such as hypertension. 27 Pets augment social interactions in groups, fostering generalized reciprocity and encouraging social trust. 28 In the community pets catalyze civic engagement, perceptions of neighborhood friendliness, and a sense of community.…”

Section: Pets In the Familymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pets' Impact on Your Patients' Health: Leveraging Benefits and Mitigating Risk

Hodgson

Barton

Darling

et al. 2015

The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine

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Over two thirds of Americans live with pets and consider them important members of the family. Pets benefit human health (zooeyia) in 4 ways: as builders of social capital, as agents of harm reduction, as motivators for healthy behavior change, and as potential participants in treatment plans. Conversely, pets can present risks to their owners. They are potential sources of zoonotic disease and injury. Pets can also challenge a family's prioritization of financial and social resources. To activate the benefits of zooeyia and appropriately calibrate and mitigate zoonotic risk, physicians first need to know about the pets in their patients' families. Asking about pets is a simple and feasible approach to assess patients' environmental history and social capital. Asking about pets is a nonthreatening way to build rapport and demonstrates an interest in the whole family, which can improve the physician-patient therapeutic alliance. Physicians can use an interprofessional, collaborative approach with veterinarians to address zoonotic health risks and leverage zooeyia. (J Am Board Fam Med 2015;28:526 -534.)

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Pet Ownership and Cardiovascular Risk

Cited by 244 publications

References 76 publications

mActive: A Randomized Clinical Trial of an Automated mHealth Intervention for Physical Activity Promotion

mActive: A Randomized Clinical Trial of an Automated mHealth Intervention for Physical Activity Promotion

Beneficial Dog Bacteria Up-Regulate Oxytocin and Lower Risk of Obesity

Pets' Impact on Your Patients' Health: Leveraging Benefits and Mitigating Risk

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