Impact of Neighborhood Greenery on Health
According to a recent study, the trees and bushes in your neighborhood may be significantly improving your health. This week at the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology annual meeting in Santiago, Chile, researchers from the University of Louisville reported that compared to other surrounding areas, people’s levels of inflammation are lower in neighborhoods where the number of trees and bushes has more than doubled.
Kim Schatzel, president of the University of Louisville, remarked, “Trees are beautiful, but these results show that the trees around us are also beneficial to individual and community health.” More than 8,000 huge trees and bushes were planted for the study in some Louisville, Ken. neighborhoods, but not in others. Plantings took place in low- to middle-class areas across a four-square-mile area of south Louisville between 2019 and 2022.
Study Findings and Health Benefits
The researchers then examined the health data of 745 inhabitants to determine whether or not their general well-being would have increased with additional greenery. According to the findings, people living in the greener neighborhoods had levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a biomarker linked to inflammation, that were 13% to 20% lower. Researchers found that elevated levels of this marker are highly correlated with heart risks and may possibly be a more reliable predictor of an imminent heart attack than cholesterol levels. It also showed an increased risk of some malignancies and diabetes. Researchers also showed that a 10% to 15% decreased risk of heart attack, cancer, or mortality from any disease correlates with the decrease in hsCRP reported in greener neighborhoods.
“Trees provide us with many benefits than just shade and beauty. They have the potential to enhance the health of those residing in their vicinity, according to prominent researcher and University of Louisville medical professor Aruni Bhatnagar.
Implications and Future Urban Planning
“This is the first study to show that a deliberate increase in greenness in the neighborhood can improve health, even though several previous studies have found an association between living in areas of high surrounding greenness and health,” Bhatnagar continued in a university news release. “This research will support the effort to expand urban green spaces.”
