According to a new study recently published in HortTechnology, plants and flower in hospital rooms have definite healing benefits, especially for anyone recovering from surgery.
Researchers studied ninety patients recovering from appendectomy, assigning them randomly to hospital rooms with or without plants. During recovery, the patients were able to see eight varieties of flowering plants or foliage.
Scientists measured recovery times, heart rate, temperature and blood pressure, perceived level of pain, fatigue and anxiety levels. The results showed that plants and flowers facilitated recovery from abdominal surgery, as evidenced by less pain medication use, lower heart rate and systolic blood pressure, and decreased anxiety levels in the hospital patients who were exposed to plants and flowers.
In addition, the patients indicated greater satisfaction with their hospital rooms, when compared to the control group. The study concluded that plants and flowers are good medicine when it comes to promoting recovery from surgery.
Hat tip to Stan for the link!