NORAH study Aircraft noise increases the risk of depression and heart failure

When the results of the NORAH study were presented recently, the excitement was great. The investigation concluded that the impact of aircraft noise on health is lower than previously thought. The authors defended the study at an international symposium.
Aircraft noise can make you depressed
Chronic noise can lead to depression but has no effect on blood pressure. This was the conclusion of the study "NORAH" (Noise-Related Annoyance, Cognition and Health), which was recently presented. Already on the day of publication, the authors were sharply attacked. Both by citizens' initiatives and by other scientists. As reported by the "Frankfurter Rundschau" (FR), the authors of the NORAH study now defended their findings at an international specialist conference at Frankfurt Airport.

Study shows connection between serious diseases and aircraft noise. Picture: kathijung - fotolia

Effects of noise on health
After five years of research, the study, which examined the effects of aviation, road and rail noise on human health, concluded that traffic noise increases the risk of depression and heart failure. Study director Rainer Guski from the University of Bochum, however, stated on Friday in Frankfurt that it had not been confirmed that aircraft noise was also responsible for higher blood pressure. The result initially "surprised" him, but was underpinned by international research. "We looked at chronic blood pressure," Guski said, not the acute one who jumps up, "if someone turns over a glass of water." In addition, he made clear with regard to the measurement method, "that we have not measured the blood pressure over the sweater". That had suggested a photo in the study, and thus a "false impression".

Noise makes you sick
However, studies by other scientists have concluded in the past that aircraft noise can lead to hypertension and promote strokes and heart disease. In addition, noise causes headaches, nervousness, inner restlessness and stress. The authors of the two-day noise conference Icana at Frankfurt Airport discussed the contents of the current study "which is methodically highly praised". The survey also showed that people in the Rhine-Main area have felt more bothered by noise since the Northwest Runway was put into service. Children taught in noise-ridden elementary schools learned to read more slowly than children in quieter settings and were also more likely to be affected by speech or language disorders.

Study was referred to as "contract research"
As reported by the FR, Johann-Dietrich Wörner of the Forum Flughafen und Region (FFR), who is also chairman of the board of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), campaigned to "pick out no results guided by interests". Because this would diminish the value of the study, which is the most extensive international on the effects of traffic noise. It was "outlandish" for him that the work had been described as "contract research". Fraport and Lufthansa had reportedly paid about eleven percent of the costs amounting to almost ten million euros. "There was a comprehensive quality assurance process." Wörner left open how and when the results should be used to better protect people from the effects of traffic noise. "You can not say that yet." (Ad)