Noise not only affects the ears, it affects the quality of sleep and the health of the heart and the brain, say American researchers.
“From headphones that blow the bass on a subway ride, to the incessant hum of traffic for those who live or work near saturated roads to the beeps of monitors that make the soundtrack of hospitals, everything what we hear every day has an impact on health! “Says Dr. Mathias Basner, sleep and chronobiology specialist in the Department of Psychiatry at Penn (Philadelphia).
With other researchers, he reviewed all the studies that evaluated the harmful effects of noise on health. The team focused on studies published over the past five years in the fields of ENT, cardiovascular medicine, sleep medicine, psychology and hospital medicine.
Ear damage at 85 decibels
“About 22 million American workers are exposed to hazardous noise levels at work. Each year, an estimated amount of $ 242 million is spent on compensation for hearing loss, ”notes Dr Basner.
The doctor stresses that additional educational efforts must be planned in order to prevent the effects of noise. If the latter becomes painful from 120 decibels, we must not forget that it affects the ear from exposure to 85 decibels, ie the noise level of a truck traveling at 50 km / h at 20 meters …
Work on social noise
The authors of this review of the scientific literature published in The Lancet noted that in recent years, research has broadened to focus on social noise, such as noise heard in bars, road traffic noise, rail and also air traffic . Scientists have found evidence that long-term exposure to ambient noise affects the cardiovascular system, with associations with hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and stroke.
Thus, a study carried out over ten years in Denmark, with 50,000 people showed that exposure to road traffic noise increases the risk of stroke, particularly in people over 65, with an increased risk of 14%. in steps of 10 dB …
Additionally, numerous studies have highlighted associations between environmental noise exposure and sleep disturbances, children’s cognitive development, and even negative effects in hospitals for patients and staff. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of healthy years of life lost in Europe is 61,000 due to heart attacks related to noise exposure, and 587,000 due to annoyance due to noise.
Two in three French people complain about the noise
In view of these various data, the American authors plead in favor of stronger public action to limit noise pollution and to prevent the populations. In France, the Academy of Medicine published in June 2012 a report on neighborhood noise pollution in the home. She recalled that two in three French people complain about noise at their home to the point that 15% think of moving. The Academy also proposed the creation of noise offices, as in Toulouse, which offers listening and a possibility of mediation to tenants affected by the noise of their neighbors.
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