Forest Bathing Always Makes Sense: Blood Pressure-Lowering and Immune System-Balancing Effects in Late Spring and Winter in Central Europe

Overview

Journal Int J Environ Res Public Health

Publisher MDPI

Specialties Environmental Health
Public Health

Date 2021 Mar 6

PMID 33672536

Citations 16

Authors

Agnes Peterfalvi

Matyas Meggyes

Lilla Makszin

Nelli Farkas

Eva Miko

Attila Miseta

Laszlo Szereday

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Various formats of forest bathing have been receiving increasing attention owing to their perspectives in health promotion and the treatment of chronic lifestyle diseases. The majority of field studies are still being conducted in the Far Eastern region, and they often make psychological assessments mainly in the green season. In our pretest-posttest field experiment, twelve healthy, working-age volunteers participated in a 2-h leisurely forest walking program, first in the green season (May) and then in the winter season (January), in the Mecsek Hills, next to Pécs, Hungary. Systolic blood pressure decreased after the trips both in late spring and in the winter. Based on changes in the expressions of CD69, an early activation marker, NKG2D, a major recognition receptor, perforin, granzyme B, and TIM-3, an inhibitory immune checkpoint molecule, on CD8+ cytotoxic T, NK, NK, NK, and NKT cells, we detected the stimulation of NK cells and activation of all examined immune cell subsets in the green season. In the winter, a slight activating and an interesting balancing effect regarding TIM-3 could be observed considering our finding that basal (pretest) TIM-3 expression by NK cells was significantly lower in the winter. Our work expands the knowledge on and potentials of forest medicine.

Citing Articles

Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing): A Scoping Review of the Global Research on the Effects of Spending Time in Nature.

Vermeesch A, Ellsworth-Kopkowski A, Prather J, Passel C, Rogers H, Hansen M Glob Adv Integr Med Health. 2024; 13:27536130241231258.

PMID: 38420597 PMC: 10901062. DOI: 10.1177/27536130241231258.

Spending time in the forest or the field: qualitative semi-structured interviews in a randomized controlled cross-over trial with highly sensitive persons.

Oomen-Welke K, Hilbich T, Schlachter E, Muller A, Anton A, Huber R Front Psychol. 2023; 14:1207627.

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How Does the Experience of Forest Recreation Spaces in Different Seasons Affect the Physical and Mental Recovery of Users?.

Chen R, Gao Y, Zhang R, Zhang Z, Zhang W, Meng H Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023; 20(3).

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An eye-tracking study on visual perception of vegetation permeability in virtual reality forest exposure.

Li C, Du C, Ge S, Tong T Front Public Health. 2023; 11:1089423.

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Is altitude a determinant of the health benefits of nature exposure? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Kim E, Park S, Kim S, Choi Y, Cho J, Kim G Front Public Health. 2022; 10:1021618.

PMID: 36504926 PMC: 9732270. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1021618.

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