We don’t think often of the background noise that surrounds
us. It becomes part of the furniture,
another element of day to day life that just is. Usually we only notice when our surroundings
become unusually quiet – and we’ll note the absence of background noise such as
traffic, radio and television
Now comes a study recently published in the journal
Environmental Health Perspectives that shows that the everyday background noise
we live with is a stressor that contributes in a measurable way to our
long-term heart health. The association
between noise exposure, particularly high noise levels, and cardiovascular
disease is known from previous studies.
Now researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München in Munich,
Germany, show how exposure to noise during everyday life influences heart rate
variability, i.e. the ability of your heart to adjust the rate at which your
heart beats during an acute stressful event.
Specifically, how the heart responds to a specific stressor and our
hormonal stress response is activated.
In this study of 110 men and women, average age 61,
participants were equipped with portable ECG devices to record their heart rate
when exposed for six hours to noise both above and below a threshold of 65
decibels (dB). "The study showed that not only higher
noise levels have a stressful effect and are harmful to health, but that lower
noise levels can cause adverse health effects, too," said Professor
Annette Peters, director of the Institute of Epidemiology II (EPI II) at
Helmholtz Zentrum München.
In layman’s terms, even a routine phenomena such as barely
noticeable traffic noise triggers our stress response, causing our body to
release “fight or flight” hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, elevated
levels of which are associated with chronic diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s
to arthritis.
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Story Source: Ute Kraus, Alexandra Schneider, Susanne Breitner, Regina Hampel, Regina Rückerl, Mike Pitz, Uta Geruschkat, Petra Belcredi, Katja Radon, Annette Peters. Individual Day-Time Noise Exposure During Routine Activities and Heart Rate Variability in Adults: A Repeated Measures Study. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2013; DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1205606
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