Go outside! Being in nature might boost your immune system

From forest walks to picnics on the grass, being outside in green spaces is good for our mental health. Indeed, doctors are now giving their patients nature prescriptions.

But what about our physical bodies – do they respond to natural environments as well? Dr Jessica Stanhope is doing research to find out.

She’s analysing linkages between health and green spaces in communities living in the suburbs of Adelaide.

“We’re tracking development of joint pain and arthritis, and looking to see whether they have any relationship with how much green space people have access to in their daily lives,” says Jessica.

Jessica took up the role of Chief Medical Scientist in the Rheumatology Unit at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in mid-2024.

 

The right kind of data

Being able to follow health in one defined population over time is possible thanks to a unique data set called the North West Adelaide Health Study (NWAHS).

NWAHS consists of data collected by measuring the same things in the same people over many years – known in the research world as a longitudinal cohort study.

The anonymised data set follows approximately 4000 adults over 1999-2003, with ongoing follow-up. Participants live in suburbs extending from Gawler in the north to Glenelg in the west, are split approximately equally on gender and are aged from 18 to 70+ years.

“Thanks to this data set, we’re able to examine people’s exposure to green spaces and other types of vegetation – like tree canopy cover – and look at whether these are linked with a subsequent diagnosis of arthritis, and their experiences of pain over time,” Jessica says.

 

“We are also studying people with rheumatoid arthritis specifically, to see whether their exposure to green spaces improves their symptoms and inflammation”.

 

Is the microbiome involved?

These analyses are complemented by a separate set of studies in which Jessica and colleagues at The University of Adelaide are assessing whether the microbiome might be involved in the connection between access to green spaces, pain and inflammation.

The microbiome is the sum total of all the “good” microbes that naturally live on and in our bodies.

“If you’re exposed to natural environments, you’re more likely to have a mix of microbes in your microbiome, which in turn can support better health,” says Jessica.

 

“We think it could be the influence of our microbiome on our immune system that is contributing to lowered pain and other aspects of health.”

Results from these studies will be published in coming months, so check in soon for more news.

In the meantime, keep going outside!

 

About the researcher

Dr Jessica Stanhope is Chief Medical Scientist (Rheumatology Unit) at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Senior Research Fellow in the School of Public Health at The University of Adelaide. Her work at The University is supported by an Ecological Health Network Research Fellowship (2024-2026).