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February 2012 - Vol.9 No.2 - Plain Text Version
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The Healing Power of Pets
A growing body of research shows that animals have tremendous healing potential in a variety of ways. Just the simple act of petting an animal can lower blood pressure and heart rate, and lessen anxiety and depression. Animals are a major source of encouragement and can be great motivators. Exposure to friendly pets can speed the recovery process after an illness relieving feelings of loneliness and isolation and providing a distraction from persistent pain by offering chronic pain sufferers opportunities to stay active. According to a recent study, having a pet around the house can cut the risk of having a heart attack or a stroke by almost half. After studying nearly 4,500 adults aged between 30 and 75 for 10 years, it was found that dog and cat owners had a 40 percent lower risk of suffering a fatal heart attack. Many patients recovering from heart attacks often feel lonely and isolated. Pets reduce these feelings and make great companions. More people who have pets and have suffered a heart attack are alive and well years later than those without pets. Pets also can help ease the pain of the grieving process after the death of a loved one. Animal owners have lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, fewer minor health problems such as headaches and injuries, and are able to cope better with stressful life events. In some cases, the emotional support offered by an animal is greater than that offered by a human. Pets can also help us by making us feel less lonely, by creating a feeling of being needed and by encouraging social contact with others interested in animals. They are also a stimulus for healthy exercise, keep us busy and make us feel safe. Health professionals have started to recognize the fact that pets can do more than pills for the elderly. One study showed that people over 65 made up to 30 percent fewer visits to doctors than those who had no pet. Conversely, when pet owners have to give up their pets because of restrictions, such as the prohibition of pets in a nursing home, they become sad, depressed and have a much greater tendency to contract an illness. Children who grow up with pets have higher levels of self-esteem and function better emotionally than those without, studies have shown. Some teachers have introduced pets into the classroom and children with learning disabilities and behavioral disorders such as autism, for example, show immediate benefits from animal-assisted therapy. Living with a cat or dog in their first years, children have a lower incidence of hay fever and asthma and are less likely to develop animal-related allergies, or to suffer a bout of gastroenteritis. Kids with mental or physical handicaps have an especially strong bond with animals. Clinicians have found that children who have trouble walking make astonishing efforts to maintain their balance so they can play with a pet. Those whose heads loll uncontrollably from side to side will work harder to maintain eye contact with a pet. Recognizing the therapeutic value of the human-animal bond, many hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the U.S. have successfully integrated pets into their treatment programs. It's been found that mentally disabled adults become more outgoing and display more initiative when visited by animals several times a week. Psychologists are finding that animals can assist them in treating patients. Some patients are able to speak more freely while holding or petting a dog or cat and some are better able to express themselves by speaking "through" an animal. Other physical and psychological transitions can also occur, including a feeling of calm, the ability to be more extroverted and verbal, lessened feelings of hostility, a decreased feeling of loneliness and the ability to adjust more readily to life changes An intriguing discovery is that some dogs can predict epileptic seizures, apparently by detecting subtle changes in their owners. Andrew Edney, a British veterinarian, studied 37 pet dogs that reacted to their owners' impending fits. Some became anxious or restless; others nuzzled their owners, stood guard over them or ran to fetch people. Some studies have suggested dogs can be cancer detectors. The medical journal Integrative Cancer Therapies reports how ordinary house dogs could identify breast and lung cancer patients by smelling their breath. A University of Maine study is testing whether dogs can sniff out ovarian cancer. Even some prisons now encourage inmates to keep pets - caged birds, tropical fish, even cats. These can be a magical ingredient to bring about long-term changes in attitudes and behavior. Prisoners often find out for the first time what it's like to give and receive affection. We all crave affection, but sometimes we find we have difficulty obtaining it from other people. Companion animals provide friendship, constancy and love. They're always there, always happy to see you. Pets show a person how to love, how to care and how to take responsibility. They help a person learn more about themselves and how to deal with birth, life and death. Simply put, our pets make us better people. In every issue you get the opportunity to challenge your mind and amaze your friends with the depth of your trivia knowledge by answering our trivia question. On average, men spend two times as much as women on Valentine's Day. How much in dollars does the average man spend on Valentine's Day?
Most people think that mattresses are more important than pillows when it comes to getting a good night's sleep. But that's a mistake. If you have occasional or frequent body aches, such as neck and back pain, pillows are just as important as mattresses -- or even more so. Here are some tips to picking the right pillow. Look at how you sleep. You need to take note of how you sleep. The goal is to keep the head and spine in line, so stomach sleepers need the least support, back sleepers need medium support, and side sleepers need the firmest support. Determine the proper pillow thickness for you: When lying on your side with your head on the pillow, your head should be parallel to the mattress. Ask someone to see whether your nose is aligned with the middle of your chest. If your nose is higher than your chest, you need a thinner pillow... if it's lower, you need a thicker pillow. Back sleepers. They need to bolster their neck. Use either a medium density pillow or a neck/cylinder shaped pillow under the neck (a rolled up towel also works). A pillow placed under the knees may also relieve pressure on the lower back. Side sleepers. They need a firm pillow that fills the gap between the head and bed thereby easing the stress on the neck and shoulders. The goal for side sleepers is to keep the head and spine in a horizontal line. A pillow placed between the knees will stack the hips in proper alignment. Stomach sleepers. They need the least support. They do best with a thin, soft pillow that lightly cushions the head at a natural angle Pillow filling. What fills your pillow is a matter of personal choice. Just keep in mind that pillows do have a shelf life - you can expect a top quality goose-down pillow to last the longest amount of time (5-8 years) and synthetic pillows to last the shortest amount of time (1-3 years), but covering them with removable and washable pillow protectors will help preserve them. Test before buying. At the store, compress the pillow with your head by lying down on it or lean your head on the pillow up against the store wall. Smart idea: Call around before shopping to find stores that allow for pillow returns. The Vatican has actually published a list of their top 10 favorite albums. The Pope sure has some interesting taste in music!
Q. Should I paint the inside of my home to get it ready to sell? A. Painting is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get your home ready to sell. You'll also enjoy a big return on investment. Surveys show that the average price to paint interior walls is $500 to $750, but that can increase a home's value by an average of $1,500 to $2,000. But the colors you choose are critical. A bright red accent wall, or your teenager's black-walled bedroom, needs to be painted over in order to sell. Beiges, warm beiges and yellows are the best choices for wall color and making a space look more impersonal. These colors will also make smaller rooms appear larger. It's necessary to remove all the personal touches you've made within your home in an effort to make it as neutral as possible. This enables potential buyers to better envision how their personal taste can be implemented into the house. The right paint job helps accomplish this. The last thing you want is to have a buyer's interest in your home derailed by wild, off-putting paint colors on the walls. Patterned wallpaper is also a deal-breaker. The point is that you do not want any attention called to the color of your walls. The more neutral the color palette throughout the home the better…and neutral doesn't mean white. Surprisingly, white is a color to avoid. Interior design experts say that the color white is too bright and "institutional" looking and this can make people feel uncomfortable. Stick with softer, light colors and you'll be better off. One good rule of thumb is to pick a couple of basic colors then use different shades of that color throughout the house. There is a lot to think about and I'd be delighted to help in any way I can and, of course, answer any other questions you may have about real estate. Feel free to call me. |
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