Noise From Trains, Planes, Trucks Can Cause Heart Disease

Highlights

• Environmental noise, including from road traffic and aircrafts is associated with the risk of common heart disease risk factors.
• Traffic noise has been shown in a number //of studies to increase the risk of heart disease, but questions still remain about the precise mechanisms.
• Noise induces a stress response where the nervous system is activated and levels of hormones shoot up, which will ultimately lead to vascular damage.

Traffic noise can disrupt the body in a way that increases the risk of common heart disease risk factors. A recent review was done in response to growing evidence connecting environmental noise, including from road traffic and aircrafts to the development of heart diseases, such as coronary artery disease, arterial hypertension, stroke and heart failure.

In the last decade, the global burden of disease has shifted from communicable disease to non-communicable disease, including heart disease. The focus is placed on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of traditional heart disease risk factors, but there is a growing body of evidence around risk factors in the physical environment that deserves further research.

Traffic Noise and Heart Disease

Traffic noise has been shown in a number of studies to increase the risk of heart disease, but questions still remain about the precise mechanisms that lead to noise-induced heart disease.

In the review topic, researchers looked at novel translational noise studies demonstrating the molecular mechanisms that may lead to impaired vascular function, recent epidemiologic evidence of noise-induced cardiovascular disease, and the non-auditory effects of noise and their impact on the cardiovascular system.

How Noise Can Cause Heart Disease

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The authors said that based on the evidence, they propose that :

• Noise induces a stress response, characterized by activation of the sympathetic nervous system and increased levels of hormones, which will initiate sequelae and ultimately lead to vascular damage.
• Transportation noise contributes to the development of heart disease risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes.
• Noise is associated with oxidative stress, vascular dysfunction, autonomic imbalance and metabolic abnormalities.

Specific topics looked at were the adverse effects of environmental noise on the autonomic nervous system and consequences for the cardiovascular system, adverse cardiovascular effects of noise in humans and adverse cardiovascular effects of noise in animals.

The authors also looked at some of the mitigation strategies used around the world and said strategies like traffic management and regulation, the development of low-noise tires could help reduce noise, and air traffic curfews help reduce hazardous noise, but other strategies are needed.

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Thomas Munzel, MD, lead author of the review and director of the Department of Internal Medicine at University Medical Center Mainz, Johannes Cutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, said, "as the percentage of the population exposed to detrimental levels of transportation noise is rising, new developments and legislation to reduce noise are important for public health."

Reference

1. Thomas Munzel et al., ‘Environmental Noise and the Cardiovascular System.’ Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2018).

Source-Medindia