A little green near the house will do a lot of good for your health

New Israeli research shows that living in a green environment may provide significant benefits after heart surgery.

And no, you do not have to move to a seat for that

Jonathan Nissan, Angle

05/07/2022

Tuesday, 05 July 2022, 10:17 Updated: 10:52

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Look for an apartment facing the park.

Hayarkon Park (Photo: ShutterStock)

Living next to a green environment allows us to feel a little "nature" even inside the city full of concrete and noise.

Whether it is a small park near the house or an open and extensive field, the urban nature provides us with a sense of relaxation at the heart of our stressful and busy lifestyle.

A new Israeli study shows that beyond the comfort of the green environment and the more aesthetic appearance, living in a green environment may also have benefits in recovery from heart surgery.

The study, which will be presented at the 50th annual conference on science and the environment, to be held on July 7-6 at the Tel Aviv Expo complex, found a link between a green environment and improved quality of life associated with better health after bypass surgery (especially among low-income patients).

It is not easy to recover from bypass surgery

Bypass surgery is the most common open heart surgery, and is performed following a blockage of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle - known as a heart attack.

In order to prevent the resulting blockage damage, blood vessels are taken from different places in the body and reconnected in the heart as a "bypass" for blockage in the coronary arteries.

This is not a simple operation, which requires a long recovery period and rehabilitation.

During the recovery period from surgery, patients may experience fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath and difficulty performing strenuous activity.

In addition, patients often experience symptoms that are not necessarily physical, such as depression, anxiety, and frustration.

"We chose to study the impact of the green environment on health because we believe it is one of the most important issues in our field - public health and disease prevention - given the demographic trends in the country, increasing density and poor planning in Israel," says Maya Sadeh, PhD student Tel Aviv, which led the study.

The new study was recently published in the journal Environmental Research, and also included Prof. Rachel Dankner of the Gartner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy, Prof. Michael Braver of the University of British Columbia and Prof. Alexandra Chudnovsky of Tel Aviv University.

It included data on 861 Israeli patients and heart patients who underwent bypass surgery between 2007-2004.

"We found a link between exposure to a green environment and a positive change in the quality of life."

A window overlooking nature (Photo: ShutterStock)

Subjects completed a questionnaire that examined their quality of life emotionally, physically, and socially, immediately after and about a year after surgery, and the researchers examined the difference between the two questionnaires.

The emotional part of the questionnaire included questions related to feelings such as frustration, anger and impatience, feelings of self-worthlessness, fears and anxieties, lack of self-confidence and lack of sense of happiness and satisfaction.

The levels of the green environment in the subjects' places of residence were measured with the help of satellite photographs.

Because many variables may influence the results of the study, the data were evaluated after neutralizing the influence of variables such as quality of life at the beginning of the study, age, sex, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, health status, physical fitness and depression.

"We found in the study a link between exposure to a green environment and a positive change in the mental quality of life after bypass surgery," says Sadeh.

This relationship was particularly strong among low-income earners, but also among women and the non-sports population.

According to Field, the new study illustrates that a green environment can be used as an environmental intervention that supports human health and recovery after bypass surgery.

Despite significant advances in recent years in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, they still remain the leading cause of death in the world.

These diseases may be influenced by magnetics, but also by environmental exposures and lifestyles, and while pharmacological and surgical treatment is necessary for the treatment and prevention of heart disease, over the years more and more evidence is accumulating to suggest a healthy lifestyle to treat and prevent them.

A number of extensive epidemiological studies have in the past found significant associations between a green environment and cardiovascular disease, and have found that living close to green is associated with a decrease in mortality associated with these diseases and cardiac events.

In addition, a previous study by the same team of researchers from Tel Aviv University demonstrated that living in a green environment was associated with an increase in physical activity among heart patients who underwent bypass surgery.

Such exercise may be critical in cardiac rehabilitation, as it is an integral part of rehabilitation and recovery after bypass surgery.

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To the full article

Although the mechanisms underlying the link between a green environment and cardiovascular disease are not well understood, the beneficial health effects of the green environment have been linked to its ability to relieve stress, reduce air pollution and encourage exercise.

A green environment in residential neighborhoods can also increase access to social interactions that have been shown to be beneficial to overall health.

"Exposure to nature is a basic human right"

"There are still many open questions that I would be happy to address later," Sadeh shares.

"I would be happy to find out for example whether exposure to a desert environment has health effects similar to exposure to a green environment, or what elements in the environment are related to a person's feeling of living in a green environment or close to nature."

"Recommends heart patients to stay as much as possible in a green and pleasant environment."

Heart of chrysanthemums on the grass (Photo: ShutterStock)

"I recommend that heart patients stay as much as possible in the open air and in a pleasant green environment, and not in areas with significant air pollution," says Sadeh.

"Beyond that, policymakers who decide on construction and urban renewal plans at the local and national levels should ensure these plans have adequate exposure to nature and a green environment, especially among underprivileged populations," she adds.

"Such an intervention has real potential for improving health and reducing health disparities. Planning that does not worry about exposure to nature and active transportation is a cry for generations and almost irreversible - in addition to the fact that exposure to nature is a basic human right."

• health

• Healthy life

Tags

• heart surgery

• heart attack

• nature