Israeli study: Heart patients live longer in a green environment

New research evidence for the benefits of a green environment: researchers from Tel Aviv University found that an environment saturated with vegetation increases the chances of survival of heart patients who have undergone bypass surgery, compared to those who lived in an environment devoid of greenery. The findings were published in the new issue of the scientific journal “Epidemiology”.The research was conducted by PhD student Maya Sade, under the guidance of Prof. Racheli Dankner from the School of Public Health and Prof. Alexandra Chodnovsky from the School of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with the Gartner Institute, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the University of British Columbia in Canada and the Health and Environment Foundation and the Israel Science Foundation . The present study was based on a database that included 3,128 heart patients who underwent bypass surgery in seven medical centers in Israel between 2004-2007.

The researchers accurately checked the amount of greenery in a radius of up to 300 meters around the address of each of the patients, and placed this figure against the dates of death or survival of the patients, over 14 years from the date of surgery. The results revealed that during the 12 years after the surgery, the mortality risk of those who lived in a very green environment was on average 7% lower than those who lived in an environment devoid of green. It was also found that the beneficial relationship is more pronounced among women, who were 23% of the sample, and were older at the time of surgery (69.5 years old on average) compared to men (63.8 years old).

“There are several reasons why living in a green environment is associated with better survival,” the researchers concluded, “People breathe cleaner air and engage in more physical activity, the atmosphere is calm and the quality of life is better. The research findings may be particularly relevant in the current period in Israel: they imply that exposure to a green environment may be a helpful factor in recovery from trauma.”