第1518期:The dogs who safeguard our hearts

As a dog lover, our canine companions always fill me with joy. Whether pedigree or mongrel, tame or stray, whenever I see one, I smile. After all, their loyalty is indisputable, their companionship is always welcome, they fetch for us, guard for us and even work for us when required. Good old Fido has always been close to my, and many other’s hearts.

作为爱狗人士，我们的犬类伙伴总是让我充满喜悦。无论是纯种还是杂种，驯服还是流浪，每当我看到一个，我都会微笑。毕竟，他们的忠诚是无可争辩的，他们的陪伴总是受欢迎的，他们为我们取物，为我们守护，甚至在需要时为我们工作。善良的老 Fido 一直贴近我和许多其他人的心。

Well, not content with just warming the cockles of your heart, it seems that our four-legged-friends actually lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a 2017 scientific study, which looked at 3.4 million Swedes from 2001 to 2012.

好吧，根据 2017 年的一项科学研究，从 2001 年到 2012 年，对 340 万瑞典人进行的一项科学研究表明，我们的四足朋友似乎并不满足于仅仅温暖你的心脏，实际上降低了患心血管疾病的风险。

The study concluded that this lower risk, which was particularly evident in owners of hunting breeds, may not just be due to the increased physical activity that goes hand-in-hand with owning a dog, but could also be down to dogs increasing the owner’s social contact, or by changing the owner's bacterial microbiome, which is the collection of microscopic species that live in the gut. Dogs change the dirt in home environments and therefore expose people to bacteria that they would otherwise not encounter.

该研究得出的结论是，这种较低的风险在狩猎品种的主人中尤为明显，这可能不仅是由于与养狗密切相关的体力活动增加，还可能是由于狗增加了主人的体力活动。社会接触，或者通过改变主人的细菌微生物组，这是生活在肠道中的微观物种的集合。狗会改变家庭环境中的污垢，从而使人们接触到他们不会遇到的细菌。

These effects were particularly marked in those who lived on their lonesome. According to Mwenya Mubanga of Uppsala University and lead author of the study, “single dog owners had a 33% reduction in risk of death and an 11% reduction in risk of cardiac arrest compared to single non-owners.”

这些影响在那些独自生活的人身上尤为明显。根据乌普萨拉大学的 Mwenya Mubanga 和该研究的主要作者，“与单身非主人相比，单身狗主人的死亡风险降低了 33%，心脏骤停的风险降低了 11%。”

However, before your heart skips a beat, Tove Fall, senior author of the study, also adds that there may be limitations. It’s possible that the differences between owners and non-owners, which already existed before the dog was bought, could have influenced the results – or that people who are generally more active also tend to get a dog anyway.

然而，在您心跳加速之前，该研究的资深作者 Tove Fall 还补充说，可能存在局限性。在购买狗之前已经存在的所有者和非所有者之间的差异可能会影响结果 - 或者通常更活跃的人也倾向于养狗。

It seems that the results are not as clear cut as they initially appear to be, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s ok. I love dogs for how they make me feel and, cardiovascular benefits or not, they’ll always be top dog to me – cross my heart.

结果似乎并不像最初看起来那样清晰，但就我而言，没关系。我喜欢狗，因为它们给我的感觉，不管是否对心血管有益，它们对我来说永远是最重要的——让我心碎。

词汇表

canine 犬的
pedigree（动物）纯种
mongrel 杂种狗
tame（尤指动物）温顺的
stray 流浪的
companionship 陪伴，友谊
fetch 拿来，取回，
guard 守卫，保护
Fido 对宠物狗的一个通用名称
close to one’s heart 贴近某人的心
warm the cockles of your heart 温暖你的内心
cardiovascular 心血管的
breed（动物）品种
physical activity 体育运动
social contact 社会关系，社会往来
bacterial microbiome 细菌微生物群
gut 肠道
on one’s lonesome 单独的，独自的
cardiac arrest 心脏停搏
your heart skips a beat（形容紧张或兴奋）心跳停了一下
top dog 最好的狗，胜利者
cross my heart 我保证所说属实