Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Traffic Noise Impacts on the Health of Seniors

Road traffic noise and stroke: a prospective cohort study (8 page pdf, European Heart Journal, Jan. 25, 2011)

Also discussed here: Traffic noise boosts risk of stroke, study finds (Wheels, Jan. 27, 2011)

Today’s research article examines the link between traffic noise and strokes. After taking out the impact from air pollution, 8% of all strokes can be attributed to traffic noise, especially for those 64.5 years and older because of sleep interruptions and impacts on blood pressure.



Key Quotes:

“to investigate the association between exposure to transport noise and risk for stroke in a cohort after adjustment for air pollution and other important risk factors for stroke.. (traffic noise, air pollution, smoking intensity, intake of fruits, intake of vegetables, alcohol consumption, BMI, and blood pressure)”

Acute exposure to noise is believed to activate the sympathetic and endocrine systems, thereby causing changes in blood pressure and heart rate and release of stress hormones”

“Recently, a meta-analysis indicated that the risk for myocardial infarction with road traffic noise increased in a dose–effect manner”

NOx in the air was calculated with the Danish AirGIS modelling system for each year (1993–2006) at each address at which the cohort members had lived. AirGIS allows calculation of air pollution at a location as the sum of: local air pollution from traffic in the streets, with the Operational Street Pollution Model”

“residential exposure to road traffic noise was associated with risk for stroke, with a 14% higher risk per 10 dB higher exposure to noise for all participants and a 27% higher risk per 10 dB higher exposure to noise for participants above 64.5 years”

“an estimated 8% of all stroke cases (19% of stroke cases more than 64.5 years of age) in this population could be attributed to exposure to road traffic noise”
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