If you are living in the busy part of the city or stuck in a heavy traffic, you might have felt like your blood pressure is rising due to the bustling vehicle noises around you. This is actually true, says a study published in JACC : Advances on March 22, 2024.
The study shows that high road traffic noise can be a cause of elevated blood pressure. Some previous studies revealed that there is the cause of high blood pressure is related to road traffic noise and air pollution.
No adequate evidence of traffic noise as a cause for increased blood pressure was proven before this. But this study proves that traffic noise alone increases the risk of hypertension among the adults.
Reasearch on risk of Hypertension
For the purpose of the study the health data of UK Biobank was used to analyse the health results of the people over a period of time.
Health data of more than 2, 40, 000 people who were aged between 40 to 69 years old were used in the study. The participants who are free from hypertension were included in the study.
The participants health status was followed in UK Bio bank for a median of 8.1 years. They then analysed the number of people who have developed hypertension over time.
From this study, they observed the risk of the residents residing near noisy road developed the risk of hypertension. They also noticed that risk of elevated blood pressure is raised when coupled with “noise dose”.
Based on the home address and Common Noise Assessment Method, the traffic road noise is measured in the study.
The researches made adjustments to reduce the air pollution effects by reducing the exposure of harmful particles and nitrogen dioxide. Even so, the combined exposure of traffic sound and air pollution highly elevates the risk of hypertension in the middle aged and elderly people.
Effects of Hypertension
Hypertension is the main reason for cardiovascular diseases and also premature death around the world, says a study in 2020. The study further stated that the risk of hypertension in the low and middle income countries are increasing globally than the high income countries in the recent years.
Another study published in European Heart Journal says that the consistent long-term exposure to traffic noise above 65dB may be linked to increase in both systolic and diastolic blood pressue.
As hypertension is a disease common for elderly generation it needs to be diagnosed and treated on time. If left untreated, may lead to many other diseases.
Many studies shows that very long exposure to traffic noise may lead to other issues like sleep disturbance, increased heart rate, chronic heart diseases such as cardiovasuclar disease and may also lead to stress related problems.
We exist in the environment surrounded by air pollution and vehicle noises, which creates a higher risk of getting hypertension.
The government should consider taking steps to mitigate traffic sound and air pollution to reduce the risk of blood pressue and related health issues.
