University of Louisville study finds trees promote health – Winchester Sun

The University of Louisville’s Louisville Green Heart Project found that people living in neighborhoods where the number of trees and shrubs was more than doubled showed lower levels of a blood marker of inflammation than those living outside the planted areas.

Overall inflammation is an important risk indicator for heart disease and other chronic diseases.

from UofL Christina Lee Brown Environmental Institute In 2018, the first project of its kind was launched to study whether and how living in environments with higher vegetation density contributes to better heart health.

The study design closely mirrors clinical trials that test whether medical treatments are effective. The team applied the treatment — the addition of trees and large shrubs — in some participants’ neighborhoods, but not in others. They then compared the residents’ health data to see how the addition of trees affected their health.

“The Louisville Green Heart Project is a great example of how innovative and collaborative researchers at our university are working to improve lives in our community and beyond,” said UofL President Kim Schatzel. “Trees are beautiful, but these results show that the trees around us are also beneficial to individual and community health. Through this and many other projects, the Envirome Institute is improving health at the community level – not just for individuals, but for everyone who lives in a neighborhood.”

Researchers took blood, urine, hair and nail samples and documented health data from 745 people living in a four-square-mile area of ​​south Louisville. Researchers also took detailed measurements of tree cover and air pollution levels in the area.

More than 8,000 large trees and shrubs were then planted in the neighbourhoods designated for the project. The inhabitants of the green zone were considered to be part of the treated population and the results obtained from this population were compared with those of the residents of the adjacent neighbourhoods, where no trees were planted.

After the plantings, the researchers found that those living in the green zone had 13 to 20 percent lower levels of a general inflammation biomarker called high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) than those living in areas that did not receive new trees or shrubs. Higher levels of hsCRP are strongly associated with a risk of cardiovascular disease, so the reduction corresponds to nearly a 10 to 15 percent reduction in the risk of heart attacks and cancer.

The project has received an additional $4.6 million in funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to support continued research over the next five years.