Association between traffic noise and high blood pressure discovered

Beijing: Be warned, if you live near a busy road and traffic noise area, the noise can raise your blood pressure after a while.

According to the Journal of American College of Cardiology (JACC), the relationship between traffic noise and blood pressure has been revealed. Earlier, many studies and observations have indicated this. However, it is important to know more whether it is due to noise or smoke emitted by vehicles.

Dr. Jing Huang of Peking University’s Department of Environment and Public Health and colleagues claim that rumbling engines, honking horns and traffic flow can raise your blood pressure. In this regard, 240,000 people aged 40 to 69 years who did not have high blood pressure were observed for several years. In his research he used the European model known as ‘Common Noise Assessment Method’.

After continuous follow-up for 8 years, it was observed that people who lived closer to the road developed blood pressure disease in the same proportion. But it was also seen that the polluted atmosphere of the traffic has also played an important role in this. However, in this entire study, the audible traffic noise cannot be neglected.

Following this research, the authors of the report have urged that legislation and appropriate measures be taken to protect the public from the dire negative effects of traffic. Among them, awareness among drivers, urban planning and improvement of roads have also been emphasized.