Environment
Airport noise raises blood pressure instantly
By Sue Mueller
Feb 14, 2008 - 8:25:55 AM

WEDNESDAY FEB 13, 2008 (Foodconsumer.org) -- Noise, particularly the noise from an airport can boost your blood pressure drastically and instantly even when you are in sleep, according to a new study published in the European Heart Journal.

The study also showed the louder the noise, the higher the blood pressure, suggesting that living near an airport is an environmental hazard to heart health.  

Lars Jarup at the University of Glasgow and colleagues said people living near a busy airport and under a flight path for at least five years are at a greater risk of developing hypertension than those who did not.

High blood pressure is a known risk for cardiovascular disease including stroke, heart failure, heart attack and also kidney failure.

The study of 5,000 people estimated that an increase in night time airplane noise of 10 decibels resulted in an increase in risk of high blood pressure by 14 percent among both men and women.

The four-year study involved 140 volunteers in their homes near London's Heathrow airport, one of the busiest airport in the world and three other major airports in Europe.

For the study, blood pressure was tested every 15 minutes while the participants slept in their homes and the noise level was measured at the same time.

Noises from various sources were also tested from road traffic to a partner's snoring to an airplane taking off or landing.

The researchers found what mattered is the level of noise, not the source.   But airplanes were the worse source of noise.