Ggids

Anyone who owns a pet already knows the advantages. Yet it seems there’s one more they may not have realized. Could having a pet improve our immune system? So far, all the studies point to that.  People who are around animals may not be prone to conditions such as eczema, asthma and other allergies. The benefit has to do with being exposed to the microbiome of animals. Their germs and microbes apparently stay on our skin and penetrate inside us in a way that helps create an immunity. Pets could now be called a new probiotic. 

It began when researchers became aware that there are certain diseases the Amish are not prone to. Of course, they live still in a pre-industrial society and their air is cleaner than ours, but the main factor is that they live with animals. Studies have now been done by other scientists studying the microbiome of pets and their owners, which showed a similarity that can explain why being around animals, certainly having a pet, can help our immune system and more easily resist certain germs.

 This new advantage to having pets seem to open us to question a downside of living in germ phobic societies

You might have noticed a break in the postings on the GGID-Giving Good Its Due page. It is due in part that I, as many others, had difficulty in finding items that would qualify as good. The field of reporting has been taken over by the events of the current US administration. As a citizen and a human being, I consume news of the administration, but politics is not a topic my work focuses on, so finding pieces about something I could call good became a challenge.  

I predictably kept on reading, watching, listening to what is going on, things that do not fit within my value system, things that go against what I believe would be a needed direction for the country as well as for humanity. Like many I was downhearted. And still I kept reading, watching and listening.

 After a while I became more and more impressed by some of the articles and pieces I encountered, by the clarity of some of the journalists, thinkers, others. Their understanding of what is going on, their knowledge, their perceptions enriched my own. And I realized something that we too often forget, that to be able to know what is going on is a good thing, a very good thing.  

A good thing as we know doesn’t have to feel good, it just has to advance us in some way, in this case our comprehension. I also realized that by better comprehending what is going on, I can better cope. And I hope that’s true for you as well.

In Neufchatel, Switzerland, you can get a doctor’s prescription to go to a museum! The prescription could also be for a garden or an art gallery. The whole idea that art can help improve mental health stems from a 2019 World Health Organization study which explored just that, the connection between art and health. They explored how engaging in cultural events could promote mental health and also with coping with illness.

It seems redundant to me since I have used museums as a form of  well being for decades. How many times  have I sought refuge at places like The Getty Villa in Malibu when things were hard? And that’s exactly what the study found,  that going to a place like a museum can help people  lay down their problems for a while, find some peace and tranquility as respite from whatever they needed respite from.  

What’s going on in Neufchatel is still in pilot program phase but it has proven so successful they are thinking to extending it to include theater and other cultural events. It’s good to know about the study, about the Swiss program, about its success, but for anyone needing a bit of respite from daily duties, no need for a prescription, just go to whatever museum, gallery, garden or concert that feels right to you.  And as you do remember too that you become a reason and an example of why the arts are so vital to a society.