Study: Heart Bypass Patients Survive Longer In Greener Areas  

People who have undergone bypass surgery due to coronary heart disease have a higher survival rate when living in a green environment, according to newly published research at Tel Aviv University. 

Coronary heart disease means that the blood vessels taking blood to the heart become blocked, potentially leading to a heart attack. Bypass surgery involves taking a healthy blood vessel from elsewhere in the body and using it to create a new pathway for blood to reach the heart. 

The study, backed by Israel’s Environment and Health Fund and the Science Foundation, followed patients living in diverse parts of the country for 10 to 14 years after their surgery. 

The researchers used NASA satellite images to measure the amount of greenery in the patients’ environs, along with a record of whether they were still alive or, in the worst case, their date of death. 

Analyzing the data showed that mortality rates for those patients living in very green areas was on average lower than those whose homes were in non-green environments.

“We examined the survival of coronary heart patients after undergoing bypass surgery, and found that living in a greener environment is associated with better chances of survival,” the researchers concluded. 

“We hypothesize that there are a variety of reasons for this: in a green environment, people breathe cleaner air and engage in more physical activity, the atmosphere may be calmer, and the quality of life is better overall. It is possible that the research findings are particularly relevant to the current period in Israel: implying that exposure to a green environment may be a beneficial factor in recovering from trauma.”

The research was recently published in the prestigious Epidemiology journal.