New research from Sweden has suggested that the risk of diabetes in dogs and their owners could be similar.
The research published in the British Medical Journal has been conducted by Beatrice Kennedy of Uppsala University and her team in Sweden, reported The Guardian.
His team studied insurance data from Sweden’s largest pet insurance company. Anonymized patient health records were extracted using national identification numbers.
They evaluated data from 208,980 dog owners / pairs and found that owning a dog that has diabetes will increase the chances of owners getting type 2 diabetes by 38 percent than those who have a healthy dog. However, data from 123,566 owner / cat pairs were also compared and no shared risk of diabetes was found between cat owners and their pets.
The link between diabetes in dogs and their owners cannot be explained by personal and socioeconomic circumstances.
The report said that the prevalence of diabetes in dogs and cats appears to be increasing. Diet and obesity can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in both animals.
Beatrice said that like previous research in which the shared risk of obesity is involved between dogs and their owners, she and her team believe that the risk of diabetes is also related to levels of physical activity.
It seems like an important factor given the absence of risk sharing between cats and their owners. Different movement habits are likely to be responsible for the absence of this risk. The researcher said: “Cats tend to prefer more independence from their owners when it comes to their movements.”
Beatrice added that exposure to pollutants or chemicals from dogs and their owners may also be a factor that needs to be further explored.
According to the report, the researchers were unable to confirm the underlying cause of this association because it was an observational study.
The fact that there is a link between type 2 diabetes in dogs and their owners is considered reason enough to change the health behaviors of the entire family. According to Beatrice, the dog’s diabetes could be an indicator that something important is happening.
He said it is well known that there is a link between dogs and their owners. This behavior found in type 2 diabetes can extend to other behaviors and health risks.