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Exposure to road and rail traffic noise is associated with an increased risk of dementia, according to the largest study of its kind.
Research has always linked transportation noise to health issues, including heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, but studies of transportation noise and dementia were sparse and small, and the results inconsistent. .
Today, an “impressive” study of two million adults, conducted over more than a decade, concluded that people living in areas with noisy transportations face a higher risk of dementia, especially dementia. Alzheimer’s disease. The results were published in the BMJ.
Researchers investigated the association between long-term residential exposure to road traffic and rail noise and the risk of dementia in two million adults over the age of 60 living in Denmark between 2004 and 2017. The level exposure of the most and least exposed sides of buildings was estimated for each residential address in the country.
After taking into account potentially influencing factors related to residents and their neighborhoods, the study concluded that up to 1,216 of the 8,475 cases of dementia recorded in Denmark in 2017 could be attributed to transport noise.
From these, “The diagnosis in approximately 963 patients was attributed to road traffic noise, and in 253 patients to railway noise”.
“In this large, nation-wide cohort study, we found that transportation noise from road and rail traffic was associated with an increased risk of dementia and all-cause dementia. subtypes, especially Alzheimer’s disease, ”the researchers wrote.
In general, they said, a pattern of higher risk with higher noise exposure was discovered. “If these results are confirmed in future studies, they could have a significant effect on estimating the disease burden and health costs attributed to transportation noise,” they said.
Dementia is one of the biggest health problems in the world. Globally, the number of people living with it is expected to exceed 130 million by 2050. In addition to well-established risk factors, such as unhealthy lifestyles, experts increasingly believe that environmental factors can play a role in the development of dementia.
Previous research has linked air pollution to the risk of dementia, but in this study, researchers found a distinct link between transportation noise and dementia.
The results suggest that it may be possible to reduce the burden of dementia by addressing traffic noise, the researchers said. “Expanding our knowledge of the harmful effects of noise on health is essential for setting priorities and implementing effective public health policies and strategies focused on the prevention and control of diseases, including dementia,” said they stated.
Possible explanations why noise can affect health include the release of stress hormones and sleep disturbances, which lead to heart disease, changes in the immune system, and inflammation, all of which are believed to be related to the onset of dementia.
The study was observational and therefore did not establish the cause, and it had a number of limitations, such as a lack of information on sound insulation in homes that can affect noise exposure. However, its strengths included its large size, long follow-up time, and a high-quality assessment of noise exposure.
Dr Ivan Koychev, a dementia expert and senior clinical researcher at the University of Oxford, who was not involved in the survey, described it as a “good quality study”.
He added: “The results are reinforced by the authors monitoring the levels of traffic pollution, which has recently been shown to be associated with dementia as well as other illnesses. “
Professor Timothy Griffiths, professor of cognitive neurology at Newcastle University, who was also not involved in the research, said it was “an impressive and large epidemiological study” which ” raises the question of why noise exposure is relevant for dementia ”.
Widespread exposure to noise and the limited tools available to help people protect themselves support the World Health Organization’s argument that “noise pollution is not only an environmental nuisance but also a threat to human life. public health, ”wrote US researchers in an editorial linked to the BMJ.
“Noise reduction through transportation and land use planning programs or building codes should become a public health priority,” they said.
Dr Rosa Sancho, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said the best way to maintain brain health is to stay physically and mentally active, eat a healthy and balanced diet, and control your weight, cholesterol. and his blood pressure.
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