The causes of Alzheimer’s disease are often multiple and the list is long of the number of factors that can lead to this disease: not sleeping enough, being too sedentary, suffering from hypertension are all known risk factors. But a new American study, published in the British medical journal, adds a new cause to this list: noise, more precisely noise pollution.
According to researchers, long-term living in a noisy environment (near railroad tracks or busy roads) increases the risk of dementia. and in particular Alzheimer’s disease.
Road traffic has more impact than rail traffic
“Transport noise is considered the second environmental risk factor for public health in Europe, surpassed only by air pollution. About 20% of the European population is exposed to a level of transport noise well above above the recommended level of 55 dB” underline the researchers. Epidemiological studies have consistently linked this noise pollution to various diseases and health problems, such as coronary heart disease, obesity and diabetes. We know that Alzheimer’s disease can also be a consequence of noise exposure.”
To reach these conclusions, the researchers followed more than 2 million Danes aged 60 and over between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2017 and studied their medical records as well as their place of residence. Of the 8475 patients with dementia in 2017, the diagnosis was attributed to road traffic noise in about 963 of them (95% confidence interval 762 to 1174) and attributed to railway noise in 253 patients (195 at 310).
Source :
Residential exposure to transportation noise in Denmark and incidence of dementia: national cohort studyBritish medical journal, September 9, 2021
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