New research reveals that people who live in tree-lined neighborhoods with an abundance of trees are less likely to suffer a heart attack or a stroke.
Making urban areas greener has many benefits, but researchers wanted to know whether it had any relationship with rates of heart disease.
The team also examined whether planting more vegetation in a locality would be accompanied by reductions in heart disease over time.
Medical records were used to obtain the incidence of new cardiovascular conditions during the five-year study, including heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, heart failure, heart disease, high blood pressure, and strokes.
Satellite images were used to analyze the amount of sunlight reflected from the Earth’s surface.
The researchers said that chlorophyll from plants typically absorbs visible light and reflects near-infrared light, so measuring both indicates the amount of vegetation.
The “greenness” of city blocks was then classified as low, medium, or high.
“Higher levels of greenness were associated with lower rates of heart conditions and stroke over time, both when an area maintained high greenness and when greenness increased.
