title: Influence of forest therapy on cardiovascular relaxation in young adults.
abstract: Background. Despite increasing attention toward forest therapy as an alternative medicine, very little evidence continues to be available on its therapeutic effects. Therefore, this study was focused on elucidating the health benefits of forest walking on cardiovascular reactivity. Methods. Within-group comparisons were used to examine the cardiovascular responses to walking in forest and urban environments. Forty-eight young adult males participated in the two-day field research. Changes in heart rate variability, heart rate, and blood pressure were measured to understand cardiovascular reactivity. Four different questionnaires were used to investigate the changes in psychological states after walking activities. Results. Forest walking significantly increased the values of ln(HF) and significantly decreased the values of ln(LF/HF) compared with the urban walking. Heart rate during forest walking was significantly lower than that in the control. Questionnaire results showed that negative mood states and anxiety levels decreased significantly by forest walking compared with urban walking. Conclusion. Walking in the forest environment may promote cardiovascular relaxation by facilitating the parasympathetic nervous system and by suppressing the sympathetic nervous system. In addition, forest therapy may be effective for reducing negative psychological symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Korea Forest Service, Government Complex 1, 189 Cheongsa-ro, Daejeon 302-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Juyoung
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9966-3618
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba 305-8687, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9830-7187
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsunetsugu
authors.affiliation: Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba 305-8687, Japan.
authors.forename: Norimasa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takayama
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University, 99 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-764, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Bum-Jin
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8602, Japan.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, 6-2-1 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-0882, Japan.
authors.forename: Chorong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, 6-2-1 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-0882, Japan.
authors.forename: Misako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Komatsu
authors.affiliation: Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, 6-2-1 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-0882, Japan.
authors.forename: Harumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikei
authors.affiliation: Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA), P.O. Box 18 (Jokiniemenkuja 1), 01301 Vantaa, Finland.
authors.forename: Liisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tyrväinen
authors.affiliation: Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba 305-8687, Japan.
authors.forename: Takahide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kagawa
authors.affiliation: Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, 6-2-1 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-0882, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3170-6810
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyazaki