Do cats reduce the rate of a heart attack?

Do cats reduce the rate of a heart attack?

medheadlines.com

"The researchers found that over a 20-year period, participants who had never owned a cat were 40 percent more likely to die from heart attack, and 30 percent more likely to die from any kind of cardiovascular disease."

(visit the link for the full news article)

I know this topic isnt exactly ATS material, but I find the connection between humans and cats fascinating, and as to why this research shows such results makes me wonder what the critical minds at ATS may think of it.
I personally think cats help people in such a manner simply due to their laid back and relaxed take on life, perhaps it is contagious, they set a great example in my mind.
then again, Ive owned my share of wild cats too, so I wonder if the study asks what the persons view on cats was as well, like if it was their spouses cat and they hated it but it still helped them add to the statistic of not having a heart attack.
I am curious what the specific controls of the test were.

medheadlines.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

methinks it is more about the attitude that makes one choose cat as a pet. cat owners (if one even can say "owner".. cats certainly do not see themselves "owned") are not those who like to give orders to others, they are generally more independent people and less stressing ones. you can pick a cat owner and a dog owner and compare their characteristics and end up with similar conclusions. of course there is always exceptions to these rules, but yeah, cats themselves doesn't make humans avoid heart attacks, but the attitude towards life in generally does. that's my bet.

[edit on 26-2-2008 by Geemor]

Also I believe any pet that you have.. as long as it has a calm and friendly personality... reduces your stress and has a positive effect on your body and mind.

Stress is the killer in the wester world.

... and of course the NWO with all the secret projects and crap

reply to post by Geemor

yeah I would have to agree on that, the stress issue.
I have one cat that drives me crazy and another cat that tells me its ok to be that way.

I own both 2 cats and a dog and yes I can honestly say they do take stress away when they are around. If I am upset and one of my cats knows they will jump on the desk and start headbuttin me and usually I am no longer mad at that point and just laughing at the cat. The dog has to get some credit to though and everyday he like to go for a good walk which is probably good for the both of us. The only down side is when something happens to your pet or it gets sick then you get really stressed because usually you have no clue whats wrong and people really care about their pets but hopefully thats a rare occurance.