Moon's Graden

>Updated 8:08 AM ET November 8, 1999

>ATLANTA (Reuters) - Facing a stressful task? Trade your husband or wife
>for a dog or a cat.

>Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo said Sunday
>that the companionship of a playful dog or a purring cat can cut
>stress-related increases in *** pressure, even among people with highly
>stressful jobs.

>A study of 48 stockbrokers already taking medication for high ***
>pressure found that those who got a pet reduced by half the increases in
>*** pressure that came with stress.

>Karen Allen and Dr. Joseph Izzo said the *** pressure of stockbrokers
>rose when they were asked to talk their way out of a shoplifting charge or
>calm a client who had just lost $86,000 because of the stockbroker's bad
>advice.

>But the increases were only half as large and remained in the normal range
>among those who had gotten a pet compared to those who had not, the
>researchers said.

>"The ones who had pets had a 50 percent reduction in stress responses,"
>Allen, the owner of a border collie, said in an interview.

>When it comes to stressful verbal or math tests, Allen said a pet calms
>people much more than having the other half around. "The spouse is the
>worst person to be there. The pet is the best," she said.

>The researchers told a meeting of the American Heart Association that the
>benefits were equally good for men and women stockbrokers, regardless of
>whether they got a dog or a cat.

>Having a pet didn't decrease average *** pressure like *** can, but it
>helped reduce stress reactions that can damage the heart, said Izzo, who
>has an orange tabby cat.

>"Drug therapy handles the nuts-and-bolts of the resting *** pressure
>beautifully, but it does not affect the stress reactivity in
>***-pressure responsiveness to everyday stressors," Izzo added.