Living Near Greenery Could Bring You Many Health Benefits

Remember the feeling of stepping out the car from a long road trip and breathing in the fresh air once you've exited the city? It isn't only a temporary feeling though. Green spaces are refreshing to breathe and take in but also have the bonus of multiple health benefits. Living near a green space is associated with a lower risk of obesity. There's another one that researchers have found recently and that is that living in a greener neighbourhood is associated with older age at the onset of menopause.

Study lead author Kai Triebner from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) in Spain said, "We know that stress increases the level of cortisol in the blood, and numerous studies have shown that exposure to green spaces reduces it. Low cortisol levels have been associated with increased levels of estradiol, an important female sex hormone. Perhaps women who live near green spaces have lower cortisol levels, which would allow them to maintain higher levels of estradiol, which may in turn delay the onset of menopause."

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The study found that women living in neighbourhoods with little green space became menopausal 1.4 years earlier than those living in the greenest areas. On an average, the age at menopause was 51.7 years for women living in the greenest areas, compared with 50.3 years for women living in areas with little green space.

Triebner concludes, "Exposure to green space is also associated with a lower risk of certain mental health conditions, such as depression, which is also associated with younger age at menopause"

With inputs from IANS

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