- Studies Show Flowers
can Enhance Well-Being
(ARA) - A beautiful bouquet of
flowers may be one of the healthiest gifts you can give -- and
we're not talking calories.
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 Flowers and plants have been used for
centuries to provide people with food, clothing, shelter, medicine
and oxygen, as well as to express emotions ranging from love
and support to grief. But now, research is adding up that suggests
flowers and plants are closely linked to human well-being.
As early as 1789, medical personnel
noted that impoverished patients who had to work to pay for their
care seemed to recover more quickly when they worked in a hospital's
kitchen garden as opposed to working in cattle sheds or other
surroundings.
More recent studies have reinforced
this early observation. A 1996 study conducted by Virginia Lohr
and others showed that rooms and offices decorated with plants
and flowers help reduce stress, as measured by decreased blood
pressure and pulse rates. In research with breast cancer patients,
a common restorative activity -- walking in a garden -- improved
patients' ability to focus on tasks and significantly lowered
their stress levels.
One of the best known studies,
by Dr. Roger Ulrich, showed that patients recovering from gall
bladder surgery who viewed plants from their hospital windows
had shorter hospital stays, took fewer potent analgesics for
pain and received fewer negative nursing comments than their
counterparts who viewed a building from their windows. |
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Additional research by Diane Relf
of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute also shows:
-- People communicate better
in the presence of flowers or plants, and they tend to eat more
food more slowly when flowers are on the table.
-- Flowers restore people from
mental fatigue and enhance self-esteem.
-- Certain types of potted plants,
as well as the growing mix used with these plants, remove some
pollutants from a room's atmosphere.
-- Placing plants and flowers
in a room significantly increases humidity, which reduces some
of the effects of dry air such as common colds.
-- Other studies have shown that
plants can improve the self-concept of prison inmates and help
relax psychiatric patients. And native plantings have been used
to help immigrants adjust to new surroundings.
It's easy to add a touch of tranquility,
freshness, beauty and well-being to someone's day -- just send
flowers. |
