Research Links Leashed Dogs to Brain Injuries Among Dog Walkers

Experts say walking their dog a few times every week provides several physical and social benefits. BetterHealth tells us that its benefits include increased cardiovascular fitness, lower blood pressure, stronger muscles and bones, and reduced stress.

A frequent walk also benefits your pet's health and provides an opportunity to bond with them. But this study tells us about a darker side to walking your furbabies.

Shocking Danger of Walking Your Dog

IFLScience reports that a study conducted by John Hopkins University researchers found leashed dogs have been related to brain harm in dog walkers.

The study found that traumatic brain injury was the second most common injury sustained by adults treated in the US for injuries sustained while walking leashed dogs.

According to a press release from the researchers, a growing number of people adopting dogs during the COVID-19 outbreak prompted the study.

Based on a 2021-2022 national pet ownership survey mentioned in the release, approximately 53% of US households own at least one dog. However, few studies have been conducted to determine the injury burden related to dog walking.

How Pet Owners Get Injuries from Walking Their Pets

IFLScience tells us that the injuries primarily resulted from falling after getting tangled in the leash, pulled over, or tripped up as the human walked their leashed dog. The most common injury was a finger fracture.

However, the second most common injury was traumatic brain injury, defined by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons as a "disruption in the normal function of the brain that can be caused by a blow, bump or jolt to the head, the head suddenly and violently hitting an object, or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue."

Concussions, non-concussive internal injuries such as contusions (bruising), and epidural and subdural hematomas, bleeding above and below the brain's outer membrane, were the most common traumatic brain injuries associated with dog walking.

Dog Walkers At More Risk

The study, published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, also discovered that older dog walkers were 60% more likely than younger people to have a traumatic injury. Injury reports related to dog walking doubled over the 20-year study period, possibly reflecting the recent increase in dog ownership.

Dr. Edward McFarland, the study's senior author and director of the Division of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine, stated that "clinicians should be aware of these risks and convey them to patients, especially women and older adults."

He also urged clinicians to screen for pet ownership, assess fracture and fall risk, and discuss safe dog walking practices during regular health maintenance visits for these vulnerable groups.

Despite the findings, Dr. McFarland stressed that the hazards should not exceed the need for dogs to be leashed in particular locations.

Stay safe walking your dogs!

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