Dog ownership: is it beneficial for physical activity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes?

Dog ownership has been shown to have significant health benefits for humans, being associated with an improvement in hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and psychosocial function. Recent systematic reviews have shown that dog ownership is also associated with increased physical activity and reduced mortality. However, the association between dog ownership and diabetes remains unclear. This review summarizes current evidence regarding the associations between dog ownership and physical activity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes and evaluates the role of dogs in managing diabetes by considering the efficacy and reliability of hypoglycemia alert dogs for identifying hypoglycemia. Previous studies have suggested that hypoglycemia alert dogs are not as reliable as advanced glucose monitoring devices. Furthermore, the benefits of dog ownership in terms of glycemic control in patients with diabetes remains controversial, with little published literature pertaining to this topic. However, it appears that the association between dog ownership and glycemic control may differ among age groups and the form of diabetes (i.e., type 1 vs. type 2). Therefore, further longitudinal studies are required to clarify the effect of dog ownership on the management of this disease.