Noise Can Increase Blood Pressure
April 2, 2008
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Several recent studies have demonstrated that noise can increase blood pressure. Studies have focused particularly on living next to busy roads, and for nighttime noise, living by airport.
There has been much interest recently on the health effects of noise. The modern world is very noisy, with vehicles, appliances and all sorts of media devices such as TVs and MP3 players. So does this does have any bad effects on us, and what are they?
Studies of people living by busy roads have shown that the noisier it is in the house the more likely the occupants are to have increased blood pressure. Whether a bedroom is on the road side of the house can even make a difference to the level of hypertension.
To look at nighttime noise researchers looked at people in a number of countries who lived by airports. They chose several different countries to make sure any effects where not cultural. Again they found that higher noise levels were correlated with higher blood pressure. They even found that those who lived close to airports were more likely to be taking medication for hypertension.
When asleep, even noise that does not wake you up can raise blood pressure temporarily. If you live with somebody who snores, their snoring may be raising your blood pressure, though eventually you may habituate and not be affected any more. Noises such as barking dogs, that do wake you up will also raise your blood pressure. Nighttime noise may be more important than daytime since it has been shown that elevated blood pressure at night can be more of a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
For our health we should all try to make the house as quiet and as restful at night as we can. Besides the obvious earplugs, things like curtains can deaden sound, and snoring remedies can be tried.
I am not sure what to do about my dog, who is in the house at night, barking when the coyotes and raccoons visit my yard. Maybe I should see if there are canine earplugs.
photo credit: davi sommerfeld
Technorati Tags: blood pressure, hypertension, nighttime noise, airport noise, road noise
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Great information - especially if you are someone who is predisposed to hypertension. I guess there is something to “moving out the the country”.
In all seriousness, we all know how difficult it is to relax when we are constantly bombarded with external stimuli. Take steps to protect yourself and hopefully live longer.