Cardiovascular disease is common worldwide and the list of risk factors that contribute to this condition is well known. Aircraft noise should be added as a contributing factor to heart attacks and worse outcomes, according to new research.
As a form of cardiovascular disease, heart failure caused by a heart attack, medically known as myocardial infarction (MI), is a leading cause of death worldwide.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a person in the United States has a heart attack every 40 seconds. In Australia in 2020, the number of ‘acute coronary events’, including myocardial infarction and unstable angina, was about 155 per day in people aged 25 and over.
Risk factors for cardiovascular disease are well known, including family history, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, obesity, unhealthy diet, and lack of exercise. Now, researchers at the University Medical Center in Mainz, Germany, appear to have added aircraft noise exposure to that list.
Previous studies have confirmed that noise from aircraft, road traffic, and railroads causes the body to release stress hormones and trigger an inflammatory response. inflammation increases the risk of myocardial infarction.
In the current study, researchers examined the underlying mechanisms of heart and blood vessel inflammation and how exposure to aircraft noise affected those mechanisms. They exposed the mice to aircraft noise, he said, 24 hours a day for up to four days. The noise averaged 72 dB and peaked at 85 dB. For comparison, a normal conversation produces 60-70 dB, an alarm clock 70-80 dB, and a vacuum cleaner 60-80 dB.
Tests have shown that inflammatory cells attach to heart and blood vessel tissue simply by exposure to noise. The researchers then induced a myocardial infarction in mice by tying one of the major blood vessels that feed the heart. Mice exposed to noise before MI showed reduced cardiac function and a larger area of post-MI myocardial damage caused by an increased immune response.
This study shows that noise alone can trigger an inflammatory response that adversely affects cardiac function. After an MI, the body reacts worse before being exposed to noise, resulting in greater damage to the myocardium and greater disability.
The researchers compared their data to data collected by the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS), a long-term, representative population study of over 15,000 people. They found the data to be comparable. In other words, the adverse effects of aircraft noise on heart function in mice were also seen in humans.
“Our study found that exposure to aircraft noise prior to myocardial infarction significantly amplified subsequent cardiovascular inflammation and exacerbated ischemic heart failure,” said lead and senior author. said Michael Molitor and Philip Wenzel of
Researchers suggest that exposure to environmental noise is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In addition to addressing other known risk factors, reducing environmental noise may improve clinical outcomes for people who have had a heart attack.
The study was published in a journal cardiovascular research.
Source: Mainz University Medical Center via EurekAlert!
