Effects of Cinnamomum Camphora Forest Environment on Elderly Patients with Hypertension: Implications for Adjunctive Therapy

DOI

10.2991/sohe-19.2019.34How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Cinnamomum Camphora, Cardiovascular Diseases, Forest Bathing, Hypertension, Volatile Organic Compounds

Abstract

Objectives: Increasing evidence demonstrates the benefits of forest environment on human health. However, the effect of tree-species-specific forest environment on human health was rarely studied. As one of the medical plants, cinnamomum camphora (C. camphora) have been found to possess anti-inflammatory activities. Thus, the present study explored the effects of C. camphora forest environment on elderly patients with hypertension (HTN). Study design: Cohort study. Methods: 31 elderly patients with essential HTN were randomly divided into two groups. Blood pressure (BP), pulse oxygen saturation (SpO2%), heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV) and levels of plasma high-sensitive-reactive protein (hs-CRP), as well as profile of mood states (POMS) test, were measured. Categorical variables were compared by Chi-square analysis. T-test was used to compare continuous data. Results: After three-day/ two-night forest bathing, patients in the forest group showed significantly lower levels of diastolic blood pressure (DBP), low frequency (LF), the ratio of low frequency and high frequency (LF/HF) and hs-CRP than in control group. However, levels of SpO2% and high frequency (HF) were greatly higher than control group. Furthermore, negative mood subscale scores of POMS were significantly lower following forest bathing, while the positive score was much higher. Conclusions: C. Camphora environment could significantly decrease the DBP and inflammatory level, balance the autonomic activity and improve the mood state of participates, implying it might be an adjunctive therapy for HTN patients.

Copyright

© 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Qing Wu
AU  - Qingdong Huang
AU  - Zhuomei Chen
AU  - Yongbao Cao
AU  - Genxiang Mao
AU  - Jianhua Dong
AU  - Sanying Wang
AU  - Xiaoling Lv
AU  - Guofu Wang
PY  - 2019/05
DA  - 2019/05
TI  - Effects of Cinnamomum Camphora Forest Environment on Elderly Patients with Hypertension: Implications for Adjunctive Therapy
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd Symposium on Health and Education 2019 (SOHE 2019)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 203
EP  - 209
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/sohe-19.2019.34
DO  - 10.2991/sohe-19.2019.34
ID  - Wu2019/05
ER  -