Bill Frist, Chair, Global Board Of Directors The Nature Conservancy, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“For the 8th Day of Christmas, I’m celebrating the 8,000 trees that were planted in Louisville as part of the groundbreaking Green Heart Louisville Project.
This is the first large-scale clinical trial that affirmed one of my favorite prescriptions: nature as medicine.
Researchers at the University of Louisville, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, wanted to test whether trees really make us healthier. To do this, they planted 8,000 trees and shrubs in a Louisville neighborhood near a highway, creating an intervention group as well as a control group without the added trees and shrubs.
Six years later, residents surrounded by new trees had 13-20% lower blood levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation that drives lung and heart disease. This reduction is associated with a nearly 10-15% reduction in the risk of heart attacks, cancer or dying from any disease.
The trees didn’t just make the neighborhood prettier, they made people biologically healthier. That data is now inspiring cities nationwide, from bus stops to schoolyards, to plant more trees.
