It's been known for a while that pet dogs can help improve the social skills of children with autism. The dogs act like a kind of "social lubricant," encouraging the children to engage more fully with the world around them, increasing behaviors such as introducing themselves, asking for information and answering questions.

"When I compared the social skills of children with autism who lived with dogs to those who did not, the children with dogs appeared to have greater social skills," said Gretchen Carlisle, research fellow at the University of Missouri and author of a recently published study.

But Carlisle's paper also turned up some unexpected results: Children with autism tended to bond more strongly to smaller dogs and, in fact, a whole menagerie of little animals. Parents reported strong attachments between their children with autism and pet rabbits, cats, rodents, reptiles, fish, birds and even a spider.

"Dogs are good for some kids with autism but might not be the best option for every child. Kids with autism are highly individual and unique, so some other animals may provide just as much benefit as dogs," said Carlisle.

"Though parents may assume having dogs (is) best to help their children, my data show greater social skills for children with autism who live in homes with any type of pet."

Body of Knowledge

Gums are renewed every one to two weeks.

Get Me That, Stat!

People everywhere are living longer, according to the World Health Organization. Based on new global averages, a girl born in 2012 can expect to live about 73 years, and for a boy, it's 68. That's six years longer than the average global life expectancy for a child born in 1990.

Low-income countries have made the greatest progress, with an average increase in life expectancy of nine years from 1990 to 2012. The six countries where life expectancy increased the most are Liberia (from 42 years in 1990 to 62 years in 2012), Ethiopia (45 to 64), the Maldives (58 to 77), Cambodia (54 to 72), East Timor (50 to 66) and Rwanda (48 to 65).

Number Cruncher

A Panda bowl with orange chicken and mixed veggies from Panda Express (343 grams) contains 490 calories, 166 from fat. It has 18.5 grams of total fat, or 28 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet, according to the Calorie Count database.

It also contains 80 milligrams of cholesterol (27 percent), 1,160 milligrams of sodium (48 percent), 61 grams of total carbohydrates (20 percent), 5 grams of dietary fiber (20 percent), 24 grams of sugar and 18 grams of protein.

Phobia of the Week

Nyctophobia: fear of the dark. Also called achluophobia, lygophobia or scotophobia.

Never Say Diet

The speed-eating record for pig feet and knuckles is 2.89 pounds in 10 minutes, held by Arturo Rios Jr. I'll avoid the obvious jokes about Rios making a hog of himself and simply report that after winning the contest at the 2007 Meadowlands State Fair, he felt just swine. No big squeal.

Best Medicine

Years of smoking finally caught up with Fred, who keeled over at work one morning, clutching his chest. As he was rushed to a hospital, paramedics peppered him with questions.

"Do you smoke?" asked a paramedic.

"No," Fred whispered. "I quit."

"That's good. When did you quit?"

"Around 9:30 this morning."

Observation

"Unhealthy behavior is actually common among doctors, who tend to know a lot about medicine but very little about health." — Sol Luckman, author of "Snooze: A Story of Awakening"

Medical History

This week in 1974, Elizabeth Blackwell, America's first licensed female doctor, was featured on a U.S. postage stamp. An engraved image was printed in violet and issued with an 18-cent denomination. The postage rate for a first-class surface letter at the time was 8 cents per ounce.

Last Words

"I am about to — or I am going to — die; either expression is used." — French priest and grammarian Dominique Bouhours (1628-1702)

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.