People take care of their loved ones--including their pets. And a new book suggests our pets take care of us in return.

Based on decades of clinical research and anecdotal evidence, Kindred Spirits (Broadway Books, 2001) proposes that the human-animal bond can improve pet owners' physical and mental health.

Written by Allen M. Schoen, D.V.M., M.S., a Colorado State University veterinary medicine professor, the book presents a variety of evidence suggesting that pet ownership can have specific healing effects, including lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. One such study, done at Australia's University of New England, found that cat owners had fewer psychiatric disturbances than those without feline friends. And research conducted at the University of New York at Buffalo found that hypertensive stockbrokers improved dramatically after owning a pet for six months.

Despite mounting evidence that animal companions can positively affect human feelings, Schoen calls for more and better research on the subject. "Animals are a gift to the human race--a gift that humans rarely take full advantage of," he writes.

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By Carin Gorrell