Sleep With Your Pet?

毛麗麗

很多人都覺得和寵物睡在一起不衛(wèi)生，但是對(duì)于愛寵人士而言，這根本不是問題。跟寵物同床而眠對(duì)身心健康到底是利大于弊，還是弊大于利？來聽聽科學(xué)家怎么說。

In the quest for better sleep， people often ask if they should share their bed with a pet. Before we get to that， let's take a moment to ponder the flip side： Is sleeping with you good for your pet？

很多人都有這個(gè)疑問：和寵物同床睡覺是否有助于睡眠？在回答這個(gè)問題之前，我們先來看看問題的另一面：寵物和你睡在一起，是否有利于寵物的健康？

"In general， it is a very good thing for animals to sleep with their people." said Dr. Dana Varble， the chief veterinary officer for the North American Veterinary Community.

北美獸醫(yī)社區(qū)的首席獸醫(yī)官戴娜·瓦布爾醫(yī)生說：“總體來說，寵物和人一起睡覺對(duì)寵物來說是很好的?！?/p>

Pets who share their human's bed tend to have a "higher trust level and a tighter bond with the humans that are in their lives. It's a big display of trust on their part，" Varble said.

瓦布爾說，和人同床而眠的寵物通常“對(duì)主人更信任更親密。這是寵物非常信任人類的表現(xiàn)?！?/p>

"Dogs and cats who are more closely bonded with their humans get additional health benefits， including increases in beneficial neurotransmitters such as oxytocin and dopamine， the feel-good hormones，" she added.

她補(bǔ)充道：“與人類更親近的狗和貓等動(dòng)物還能得到額外的益處，包括會(huì)分泌更多催產(chǎn)素和多巴胺等神經(jīng)傳導(dǎo)物質(zhì)，也就是我們所說的快樂激素?！?/p>

With that important matter out of the way， let's turn to you -- is it good for you to sleep with a pet？ Experts have traditionally said no because you might not get quality shut-eye.

在搞清這個(gè)重要問題之后，現(xiàn)在來關(guān)注一下寵物主人：和寵物一起睡覺對(duì)人有好處嗎？傳統(tǒng)上，專家都會(huì)給出否定答案，因?yàn)槟憧赡軣o法得到高質(zhì)量睡眠。

"Animals may move， bark and disrupt sleep. Sleep in dogs （and cats） is not continuous and they will inevitably get up and walk on the bed， stepping on people. All of that activity will lead to sleep fragmentation，" said Dr. Vsevolod Polotsky， director of sleep research and a professor in the department of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

約翰斯·霍普金斯大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院醫(yī)學(xué)系教授弗謝沃洛德·波羅特斯基博士說：“動(dòng)物會(huì)動(dòng)來動(dòng)去，大聲叫喚，而這會(huì)干擾睡眠。狗和貓的睡眠是間斷性的，睡一會(huì)兒就必然會(huì)起來走動(dòng)，并踩到主人。這些活動(dòng)都會(huì)導(dǎo)致主人的睡眠片段化?！?/p>

These "microawakenings，" which can happen without your awareness， "are disruptive because they pull you out of deep sleep，" said Kristen Knutson， an associate professor of neurology and preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. "They have been associated with the release of the stress hormone， cortisol， which can make sleep even worse."

西北大學(xué)范伯格醫(yī)學(xué)院的神經(jīng)學(xué)及預(yù)防醫(yī)學(xué)副教授克里斯汀·克努森說：“這些你可能意識(shí)不到的短暫覺醒會(huì)打斷你的深度睡眠，并導(dǎo)致皮質(zhì)醇釋放，而這種壓力激素會(huì)讓你的睡眠質(zhì)量變得更糟糕?！?/p>

That may be true for many of us， but recent studies have shown that pets in the bedroom could be beneficial for some of us.

對(duì)許多人而言，和寵物共眠或許確實(shí)會(huì)影響睡眠質(zhì)量，但是最近的研究表明，和寵物同睡對(duì)一些人是有益的。

"People with depression or anxiety may benefit from having their pet in the bed because the pet is a big pillow， a big blanket， and they may feel that snuggly， cuddly， furry creature decreases their anxiety，" said sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta， an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

南加州大學(xué)凱克醫(yī)學(xué)院的臨床醫(yī)學(xué)助理教授、睡眠專家拉杰·達(dá)斯古普塔博士說：“跟寵物同睡可能會(huì)對(duì)抑郁或焦慮的人有好處，因?yàn)閷櫸锞拖褚粋€(gè)大枕頭、一條大毯子，這種溫暖舒適、毛絨絨、讓人想擁抱的感覺會(huì)減輕他們的焦慮情緒?！?/p>

Data gathered in 2017 from the Mayo Clinic's Center for Sleep Medicine in Phoenix found over half of pet owners seen in the clinic allowed their pet to sleep in the bedroom -- and the majority found their pet "unobtrusive or even beneficial to sleep."

2017年鳳凰城的梅奧診所睡眠醫(yī)學(xué)中心收集的數(shù)據(jù)發(fā)現(xiàn)，來診所的超半數(shù)寵物主人都讓寵物在臥室里睡覺，大部分人認(rèn)為自己的寵物“沒有干擾、甚至有助于自己的睡眠。”

About 20% however， did believe their furry friends made their slumber worse.

不過的確有20%的寵物主人認(rèn)為寵物讓自己的睡眠質(zhì)量下降了。

Children may benefit from sleeping with a pet as well. A 2021 study asked adolescents ages 13 to 17 to wear sleep trackers for two weeks and then undergo a state-of-the-art sleep test. About a third of the kids slept with a pet， the study noted， which didn't appear to affect the quality of their rest.

孩子們也能得益于和寵物共眠。2021年的一項(xiàng)研究讓13到17歲的青少年連續(xù)兩周佩戴睡眠追蹤器并接受最先進(jìn)的睡眠測(cè)試。研究指出，約有三分之一的孩子和寵物一起睡，而且寵物似乎沒有影響他們的睡眠質(zhì)量。

state-of-the-art： adj. 最先進(jìn)的;達(dá)到最高水準(zhǔn)的

Despite the new science， many of us still need to think twice about bringing our dogs， cats or indoor pigs into our beds.

盡管新科學(xué)理論認(rèn)為和寵物共眠有益，但是許多人在和狗、貓或?qū)櫸镓i同睡之前還是要三思。

"It is particularly harmful in people with insomnia or in patients with other sleep disorders，" Polotsky said.

波羅特斯基說：“對(duì)于患有失眠或其他睡眠障礙的人來說，和寵物同睡尤其有害?！?/p>

There is another reason why snuggling with pets all night may not be good for your health. If you are one of the millions of people who suffer from asthma， allergies or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease， sleeping with a furball could become a nightmare.

和寵物一起睡可能對(duì)你的健康不利還有另一個(gè)原因。如果你是數(shù)百萬患有哮喘、過敏或慢性阻塞性肺病的患者之一，和寵物一起睡將會(huì)帶來災(zāi)難性的后果。

And there are some pets， Varble said， you should never invite to bed.

瓦布爾說，還有一些寵物是絕對(duì)不能和人同床睡覺的。

"I work with exotic pets， and a lot of them have very specific health and safety requirements， including being in an enclosure，" Varble said. "So while I know people who are very close to their ferrets and their guinea pigs， they need to be in their enclosure for their health at night. Those are not animals that we would want to have in bed with us."

瓦布爾說：“我曾經(jīng)和珍禽異獸打過交道，其中不少都有特殊的健康和安全要求，包括圈養(yǎng)規(guī)定。我知道有些人與自己的雪貂和豚鼠非常親密，但是為了健康著想，夜里還是應(yīng)該把它們關(guān)起來。這些動(dòng)物都不適合和我們同床而眠?！?5