Aircraft Noise Linked to High Blood Pressure

According to a recent Reuters Health article... "Living under an airport flight path may boost a person's high blood pressure risk by as much as 80%, according to Swedish researchers.

Writing in the December issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Dr. Mats Rosenlund of the Department of Environmental Health in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues present their findings after comparing two groups of people living near or far from the Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

The researchers compared 266 people aged 19 to 80 who lived near the airport with 2,693 other Stockholm residents. All responded to a questionnaire that assessed a variety of lifestyle habits, such as diet, exercise and smoking, and if they had ever received a diagnosis of high blood pressure from a doctor.

Rosenlund and colleagues report that people exposed to average aircraft noise levels of 55 decibels or higher were 60% more likely to report having been diagnosed with high blood pressure. Those with exposures exceeding 72 decibels were 80% more likely to report a high blood pressure diagnosis.

Overall, 14% of people exposed to less noise had high blood pressure, compared with 20% of those who regularly faced noise levels of 55 decibels or higher.

The findings suggest that exposure to loud noise is associated with high blood pressure, which in turn suggests aircraft noise could increase heart disease risk, Rosenlund and colleagues report."