Dog ownership and cardiovascular risk factors: a nationwide prospective register-based cohort study.

Objective: To study the association between dog ownership and cardiovascular risk factors.

Design: A nationwide register-based cohort study and a cross-sectional study in a subset.

Setting: A cohort of 2 026 865 participants was identified from the Register of the Total Population and linked to national registers for information on dog ownership, prescribed medication, hospital admissions, education level, income and country of birth.

Clinical depression, antidepressant use and risk of future cardiovascular disease.

Many studies have shown that depression contributes to a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Use of antidepressants and its association with CVD development has also been investigated previously but the results have been conflicting. Further, depression and use of antidepressants have been more widely studied in relation to coronary heart disease rather than stroke.