[APWG] Forests and Health. No child left inside.

[ialm at erols.com]

Agenda item: Recent findings on Forest Health and No child 
Left Inside. Non-native invasive species would give off 
fewer kinds of aromas and other characteristics of biological 
diversity which appear to be a cause of the health benefits. 

On page 20-21 of The Wilderness Society magazine that I received 
as a member in October 2008 there is an article, Breathing Trees 
by Jennifer Ackerman, about recent scientific studies that showed 
reduction in blood pressure, diabetes and cancer by walking in 
old growth broad leaf forest:

"In their experiments, the Japanese scientists uncovered hard 
evidence that walking in the forest decreases the blood glucose 
levels of diabetic patients and that people who view forest 
scenery for 20 minutes have a 13 percent lower blood concentration 
of the stress hormone cortisol than people viewing urban settings. 
They have revealed that forest walking compared with city walking 
boosts the activity of natural killer cells, immune cells that
fight cancer- an effect that may last for as long as 30 days. 
And in 2008, they reported that people living in areas with a 
higher percentage of forest cover had lower mortality rates for 
cancers of the lung, breast, uterus, prostate, kidney, and colon, 
compared with people living in areas with lighter forest cover, 
even after factoring in socioeconomic status." 

The article is now available on the www.wilderness.org
<http://www.wilderness.org>  website (blog, page 2). 
English translation of the research.  
Journal of PHYSIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Vol. 26 (2007) , No. 2 pp.123-128 

Physiological Effects of Shinrin-yoku 
(Taking in the Atmosphere of the. Forest)—
Using Salivary Cortisol and Cerebral Activity 
as Indicators—. Bum-Jin Park ...
joi.jlc.jst.go.jp/JST.JSTAGE/jpa2/26.123?from=Google 

Cheers. 

Marc Imlay. Ph. D

 
Conservation Biologist, Anacostia Watershed Society
(301-699-6204, 301-283-0808, 301-442-5657 cell) 

 
Member of the Wilderness Society
Vice president of the Maryland Native Plant Society 
Hui o Laka at Kokee State Park, Hawaii 
Board member of the Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council,
Chair of the Biodiversity and Habitat Stewardship Committee 
for the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club.

 


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