Dogs: A Heart Patient's Best Friend - Yahoo! News

Dogs: A Heart Patient's Best Friend - Yahoo! News

"Dogs are a great comfort," says study leader Kathie Cole of the UCLA Medical Center. "They make people happier, calmer and feel more loved. That is huge when you are scared and not feeling well."

Anxiety scores dropped 24 percent among patients interacting with a dog. Scores dropped 10 percent when only a human visited. The group that got no visit exhibited no change.

"This study demonstrates that even a short-term exposure to dogs has beneficial physiological and psychosocial effects on patients who want it,"