SURROUNDING PLANTS INCREASES LONGEVITY

Surrounding yourself with plants influences life in different aspects. The first, which is obvious, is that we learn to take care of the other. Sure, because having plants in the house implies a responsibility, if we pretend that they remain healthy, and of course, live. But it's not only important to have plants at home; it is better to live in a green environment than in a non-green one. Recently, a study has shown that having plants, surrounding them, could influence longevity. This study was carried out with more than 100 thousand women from the United States. The result of the investigation showed that women who had more plants at home and who lived in contexts where there were gardens and parks around them, had a 12% lower mortality compared to women who did not enjoy this environment.

"It is important to know that trees and plants provide health benefits in our communities," Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the institution that funded the study, said in a statement. "The finding of reducing mortality suggests that vegetation can be important for health in a wide variety of ways," he added. Living surrounded by greenery helps us to counteract stress, to reassure ourselves, to reflect on problems and to take them to the true extent of their importance. For this research, scientists at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston analyzed the vegetation level around the homes of some 110,000 women who are registered nurses. These nurses participate in a research project called Nurses' Health Study. The participants gave their addresses and the researchers used satellite images to determine the amount of vegetation less than 250 meters from their homes.

The researchers tracked the lives of these nurses from 2000 to 2008, a period during which 8,604 deaths were recorded. According to the study, the scientists realized, from the results, that living in an area with a vast vegetation was associated with a lower mortality rate. The research showed that nurses living near areas with more vegetation had 41% less mortality from kidney disease, a mortality rate from respiratory diseases 34% lower and a cancer death rate 13% lower than women who lived in areas with less vegetation.

Of course, there are a number of reasons why vegetation near home could lead to a longer life, including providing space for physical activity and social gatherings, as well as reducing stress and depression through of contact with nature. The study found that women living in a heavily vegetated context near their homes had lower levels of depression because they spent more hours participating in social groups (such as charities, for example) than people with less vegetation near their homes. homes; this suggests that this factor has to be contemplated. That is, green spaces, in some way, stimulate the community, and perceiving the community makes us stronger and healthier. According to the research, we can deduce that longevity is related to a community feeling, or at least that the community helps the individual to overcome diseases, so that taking care of the life of plants, flowers and trees is crucial for the health and longevity of the community.