The very nature of a stockbroker's job puts him or her in daily contact with bulls and bears. A recent study shows it may be time to add cats and dogs to the mix.
According to a study conducted by Karen Allen, M.D., of the School of Medicine at the State University of New York at Buffalo, pets can help reduce stress among Wall Street producers. The study was conducted among 48 unmarried New York stockbrokers, between 40 and 50 years old, earning at least 200,000 dollars. All were on medication to lower blood pressure and half were given a pet.
The new pet owners had lower blood pressure readings after a series of stress tests than the non-pet owners.
Allen released the results of the study during the American Heart Association's conference in Atlanta late in 1999.
"Stockbrokers have very high stress jobs and most have high blood pressure," Allen says. Pets help because they're "totally nonjudgmental. They're always on your side," she says.
Allen found stockbrokers to be a "fascinating" group for her study. "There is so much agony and ecstasy taking place over a short period of time. ... They all have hypertension."
She adds that half of the 24 brokers who did not have a pet during the test period ended up buying a furry friend.
