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Myth or Fact: Plants have a therapeutic effect for patients recovering from surgery
by Dr. Doug Segan
November 1st, 2009

Have you ever visited a loved one who was recovering from surgery and you could not decide which gift would be sure to have a salutary effect for them. A recent study from Kansas State U provides good evidence that a bringing a plant will surely be beneficial.

Seong-Hyun Park at KSU studied patients recovering from several types of surgery. The patients were randomly assigned to either a room with plants or a room without plants. A large amount of data was collected on the patients to see if having plants in ones hospital room made a difference.

Patients with foliage and flowering plants did better than patients without plants. The postoperative patients exposed to plants had shorter hospitalizations, less pain and less use of pain medications, and less anxiety and fatigue.

I recently had surgery at the Cleveland Clinic and I wish I knew about this study. While I did not have plants in my room, I did have a great view of some trees and a beautiful lawn which I found a joy to look at.

Bottom line: Plants have a therapeutic value for patients recovering from surgery.

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My friend Doug Segan is an emergency medicine physician. He is keeping an eye on the current medical literature and will share with us brief summaries of the most intriguing studies that impact the areas of fitness, nutriton and staying youthful.