A new field of study finds that time spent with our four - legged friends may offer medicinal benefits .

require any detent parent if time with their pup can heal any complaint , and you would credibly be met with a resounding , " Yes ! " Most dog parents claim that time with your doggy can help bring around most ailment . But anew studyis put scientific evidence behind this asseveration .

In the study , Canadian research worker constitute that spend just 10 second with atherapy dogreduced levels of pain , anxiety , and depression and increased feelings of well - being in patient in the emergency brake department live infliction .

woman in hospital bed hugging a golden retriever therapy dog

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In the study , participants visit by therapy detent reported a :

To lead the written report , theresearchersasked 97 ED patients to rate their levels of pain , depression , anxiousness , and sense of well - being on 11 - point rating ordered series ( with 1 being the lowest and 11 being the highest ) before clip with a therapy wienerwurst , straight off after , and then 20 minutes after . The patient ’s heart pace and parentage pressure were also measured at these interval .

In the command chemical group , these same element were evaluate and record for 101 ED patient role that were n’t visited by a therapy andiron at two disjoined interval 30 minute asunder . Theresearchers statethere were no statistically significant deviation in the gender , age , or ethnicity of data-based and control group participants .

There were several limitations to the study , so we ca n’t say with certainty yet whether these findings are valid . For entrant , the research worker did n’t account separately for the encroachment of the therapy hound and their handlers . Data used in the study were also only collect in one infirmary setting and did not factor in information about medication patient took that could have bear upon pain levels or whether people experienced continuing pain or not .

Yet despite these limitations , Jessica Chubak , fourth-year detective with the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute who was not involve in the field , wrote in an email to CNNthat the results of the study are assure . " Our current understanding of the effects of therapy dog visits in emergency brake section setting is middling limited , " she publish . " So , it is in particular important to have more enquiry in this surface area . "