Share:
Metastudies Deadly heart disease due to traffic noise
Traffic noise has risen massively in Germany over the past decades. The growing traffic noise also endangers the health. A recent meta-analysis concludes that the incidence of ischemic heart disease is significantly increased by the traffic noise load.
Cars, trucks, trams, trains, airplanes - all modes of transport generate a certain amount of noise and the volume of traffic also increases noise pollution. The latter in turn has a significant impact on human health. An international research team has recently come to the conclusion that the noise level also increases the risk of ischemic heart disease, reports the German Society for Cardiology (DGK). The study was presented at the European Cardiology Congress (ESC) in Barcelona.
The traffic noise is a danger for the heart health according to a recent study. (Image: olly / fotolia.com) New WHO guidelines in development
The international research team from the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain has evaluated in its current meta-study the existing studies on traffic noise and heart health. In preparation for an update of the WHO Regional Office for Europe's "Environmental Noise Guideline", "a systematic analysis of the available evidence on the cardiological and metabolic effects of noise pollution was carried out", reports the DGK. The current Directive had already been adopted in 1999 and only takes into account scientific literature until 1995. Since then, however, there have been numerous new findings on the harmful effects of long-term noise pollution.
Rising relative disease risk
In total, the scientists analyzed 61 publications published since 2000, and their data enabled a risk analysis, reports the DGK. In general, the available studies are of high quality, although experimental work is lacking. The most robust data available for road traffic noise, but less for the burden of train or aircraft noise. The analysis of all data (7,451 cases of ischemic heart disease) has shown that the relative risk of disease increases by 1.08 per 10 decibels of increase in road traffic noise. "The concept of relative risk assumes that with a value of 1, the risk is equally distributed in both groups" and "a value greater than 1 is an indication of a possible connection between a risk factor and a disease," explains the DGK.
Effects of noise on the release of stress hormones
The meta-analysis of longitudinal studies on the relationship between road traffic noise and cardiovascular disease (ischemic) heart disease shows that their frequency increases statistically significant in the extent of noise pollution, according to the DGK. "Given the effects of noise on the release of stress hormones and the quality of sleep, a causal relationship between traffic noise and ischemic heart disease seems plausible," the study authors are cited by the professional society.
Consequences of noise pollution
The effects of environmental influences such as noise or air pollution on cardiovascular health are increasingly the focus of scientific research and also involve organizations such as the WHO, the European Society of Cardiology ESC or the DGK. In previous surveys, the WHO had already come to the conclusion that in Western Europe, one million healthy years of life are lost each year due to noise, reports the DGK. "On the way to cardiovascular diseases alone, noise causes the loss of 61,000 healthy years of life every year," says Prof. Dr. med. Thomas Münzel from the University of Mainz in the current release.
Noise kills through direct and indirect effects
According to the DGK, the research group Noise Effects Research at the University Medical Center in Mainz headed by Prof. Münzel "demonstrated in an experimental model correlations between noise pollution and dysfunction of the endothelium, ie the inner wall of blood vessels." This endothelial dysfunction is considered to be an important cause of severe cardiovascular diseases like heart attack and stroke. "According to a model published in 2014, noise kills noise through both direct and indirect effects. Both have in common that they cause stress reactions in the organism, "says Professor Münzel. (Fp)