Go outside for your heart
Hey Doc, does spending time outside lower your chance of a heart attack?
Great question. A personal experience tells me yes and no. Last year I spent a whole week in the mountains with my Boy Scout troop. It was incredibly relaxing for me, but I almost had a heart attack when three of my scouts got hypothermia doing the mile swim.
Right. Personally, I’d like being in nature if there wasn’t so much nature.
In England they surveyed over 20,000 people to learn how much time they spent at parks, forests, trails, rivers, and beaches. Those who spent more than 2 hours a week in nature were more likely to say they were in good health.
Well that’s a silly study because everybody who has gotten injured by nature isn’t going to be out in it any more.
Accumulating scientific evidence shows that people who live in cities near parks and trees have less heart disease, obesity, diabetes, asthma, depression, anxiety, and death.
Seriously, the number and size of trees on your street was associated with less heart attacks?
Also, people who live around parks and trails are more likely to exercise.
There’s another theory about green spaces and why they prevent heart attacks.
I’m listening.
Good, because this one has to do with noise. Background noise in a neighborhood or in a normal conversation is about 50 decibels. Heart attacks are increasingly seen as chronic background noise increases over 50 decibels.
So the louder my environment, the more likely I am to have a heart attack?
Probably. In fact, constantly living around noises like car traffic, airplanes, manufacturing plants, etc. is associated with a higher rate of heart attacks. One study out of London showed that the more day and nighttime traffic noise, the more likely one was to develop strokes.
Summarize it for me, Doc!
Get outside in nature for at least two hours a week. Do what you can to minimize background noise (i.e. car traffic) in your house, especially at night.