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.
作为一个爱狗人士，我们的狗伙伴总是让我充满欢乐。无论纯种狗还是杂种狗，无论驯养的还是流浪狗，只要我看到一只，我就会报以微笑。毕竟它们的忠诚是无可争辩的，它们的陪伴总那么热情，它们为我们取东西，为我们充当保护神，甚至在需要的时候为我们工作。善良的老菲多一直保持与我和其他许多人亲近关系。
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.
2017年的一项科学研究显示，狗不仅能温暖我们的内心，似乎还能降低患心血管疾病的风险。在2001年至2012年间，有340万瑞典人参与了这项研究。
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.
研究得出,这种低患病风险人群以狩猎犬主人尤为明显。这可能不仅仅是由于遛狗所带来的身体活动,也可能因为狗能增加主人的社会交往频率。还有可能是因为犬主的细菌微生物群发生了变化,即肠道中的微生物发生了变化。狗会改变家居环境中的灰尘，因此带来人原本接触不到的细菌。
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."
这些影响在那些独居的人身上表现得尤为明显。乌普萨拉大学的Mwenya Mubanga是这项研究的主要作者，他说：“与非养狗人士相比，养狗人士的死亡风险降低了33%，心脏骤停风险降低了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，本研究的资深作者Tove Fall补充说，在你的心跳停止之前，这可能也有局限性。养狗人士和非养狗人士之间的差异在养狗之前就已存在，这可能对结果产生影响——或者说通常更活跃的人倾向于养狗。
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.
结果似乎并没有最初看起来的那么明显，但在我看来，已经够明显了。我爱狗是因为狗带给我的感觉，不管对心血管有没有好处，它们对我来说永远是最重要的——我发誓。
