Animals and Heart Failure Patients
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From the American Journal of Critical Care:
Animal lovers probably don’t need to be told about the benefits of pet ownership, but Cole and colleagues show that even a short (12-minute) interaction with a dog can reduce cardiopulmonary pressures, neurohormones, and anxiety in patients with advanced heart failure. Do you allow pets in your ICU? Do you have a pet protocol? Consider the following:
- Animal therapy can reduce patients’ blood pressure, heart rate, and fear of procedures.
- In several clinical studies, animal therapy programs did not increase patients’ infection rates.
- A recent article describes the habits of Oscar the Cat in identifying the end of life and providing companionship to those who would otherwise have died alone ( Dosa DM. A day in the life of Oscar the cat. N Engl J Med. 2007;357[4]:328–329)
[Free Full Text] .
See Article, pp 575–588
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