Edney A T
Vet Rec. 1992 Apr 4;130(14):285-7. doi: 10.1136/vr.130.14.285.
Pets, or companion animals, are said to be good for people. Until recently there has been little serious study of the effects on people's health of their interactions with companion animals. This is in spite of the fact that they have shared human lives for centuries and their beneficial effects have been known for at least 200 years. This paper reviews the ways in which companion animals have favourable effects on human health and behaviour, for example, as guides for blind and deaf people, for enriching the lives of long stay patients and for providing physical activity like horse riding for the severely disabled. Current knowledge of the effects of animals on human psychological, behavioural, physiological and social development is reviewed, including the use of animals in prison programmes. New findings in Australia show that pet owners had marked reduction in risk factors related to cardiac disease compared with non-owners. Other recent work has indicated that companion animals are able to act as 'early warning systems' for acute human conditions such as epileptic seizures.
宠物，即伴侣动物，据说对人类有益。直到最近，关于人类与伴侣动物互动对人类健康影响的严肃研究还很少。尽管它们与人类共同生活了几个世纪，并且至少在200年前就已为人所知其有益影响，但情况依然如此。本文回顾了伴侣动物对人类健康和行为产生有利影响的方式，例如，作为盲人和聋人的导盲犬，丰富长期住院患者的生活，以及为严重残疾者提供如骑马这样的身体活动。本文还回顾了目前关于动物对人类心理、行为、生理和社会发展影响的知识，包括动物在监狱项目中的应用。澳大利亚的新研究结果表明，与非宠物主人相比，宠物主人与心脏病相关的风险因素显著降低。最近的其他研究表明，伴侣动物能够作为诸如癫痫发作等急性人类疾病的“早期预警系统”。
