Increased exposure to natural environments may reduce risk of hospitalization for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias among the elderly
On the occasion of World Parkinson’s disease daywhich recurs Tuesday 11th Aprilthe Italian Society of Neurology disseminates the results of an American study, recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Associationwhich indicate that among the diseases that can benefit from green and blue contact there are also Parkinson’s and dementias.
Which spaces: the characteristics
Numerous studies have recently indicated that natural outdoor environments, so-called green spaces, are therapeutic landscapes and a public health resource. Similar data is also emerging for the so-called blue spaces, i.e. environments related to water and the health benefits deriving from both depend on the quality of the place in which they are located: tools such as the BlueHealth Environmental Assessment Tool (acronym BEAT) have recently been developed which evaluate the environmental characteristics of these areas according to urban planning and transport, architecture and landscape management, urban design, etc.
The parameters used in the study
The recent study, the result of evaluations not only medical, but also environmental, public health, epidemiological and biostatistics, leisure and tourism management published in JAMA by researchers from a dozen Anglo-American universities directed by Jochem Klompmaker of the University of Boston confirms these assessments. Between January 2000 and December 2016, more than 122,000 subjects with an age at entry to the study were between 65 and 74 years old. Half (55.2%) were female, the majority (84.4%) white, almost all covered by the US MEDICARE health care system, half diagnosed with Parkinson’s and the other half diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or of related dementia. Their illness and hospitalization procedures were compared with the indexes of living vegetation and water in their area of residence which a special algorithm also adapted to the different seasons of the year, when vegetation and the water balance of the soil-atmosphere system change. the so-called NDVI index was used, acronym for Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, i.e. normalized index of vegetation variations which evaluates the percentage of park and blue space in relation to a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile of land.
Fewer hospitalizations for Parkinson’s
The study revealed a general reduction in hospital admissions for residents of greener and bluer areas, a reduction that was not statistically significant for Alzheimer’s disease and dementias, while it was for Parkinson’s disease, indicating that some natural environments are associated with a decreased risk of hospitalization for such illness. Up until now there were conflicting data on the protection induced by green exposure against various neurological conditions such as cognitive decline, stroke and neurodegenerative diseases, but this study provides proven results from the huge case series of the sample studied and from the exact methods usedalthough the authors admit that, not having considered the lifestyle of each individual patient in the analysis, there may have been an overestimation of the observed associations.
The winning factors of green (even urban)
In any case, apparently natural environments, such as forests, parks, road trees and rivers, as well as reduce stress and make space available forphysical activity and social interactions – comments the President of the Italian Society of Neurology, Professor Alfredo Berardelli of the La Sapienza University of Rome – they have a real therapeutic action. This effect includes the reduced exposure to pollution, extreme heat, or noiseall factors implicated in both Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. green is known to reduce depression and cardio-metabolic diseases which are risk factors for parkinson and dementia, respectively. Since life expectancy is increasing all over the world with the consequence of an inevitable percentage increase in neurodegenerative diseases – concludes Berardelli -, to prevent them, as the authors of the study themselves underline, policy makers should seriously consider the need Of interventions of protection of natural environments.
April 11, 2023 (change April 11, 2023 | 06:37)
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