Traffic noise at night and its effect on health
The night is synonym of rest. However there are many factors that can make us not enjoy the hours of sleep: mosquitoes and their buzzing, a too heavy meal, nerves or the traffic noise. Especially the noise that can cause the vehicles at night becomes especially annoying and sometimes wakes us up preventing us from falling asleep again.
However, excessive noise in traffic at night could have a greater effect in our health. This has been shown by a study from the Carlos III University of Madrid, which wanted to demonstrate the extent to which the increase in mortality and the growth of respiratory diseases and cases of diabetes can be related to the sound levels reached by cars and other vehicles at night.
The higher the noise, the more mortality
This study of the University of Carlos III in Madrid has analyzed the deaths produced between 2003 and 2009 due to myocardial infarction, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, pneumonia, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and diabetes, and its relationship with the level of noise that these people received at night.
The results indicate that there is a Direct relation for all these pathologies, except for cases of asthma in people over 65 years of age. Thus, for each increase of one decibel, mortality increases by 2.9% the possibility of developing an ischemic disease, a 3.5% myocardial infarction, and 2.4% of dying from cerebrovascular disease, a 3% for pneumonia and 4.0% for COPD.
Mortality caused by diabetes is the clearest since the results of this study revealed that the chances of dying from this disease increase to a 11%. In short, this study has proven that traffic noise during the night has a very harmful effect on our health and also increases the chances of dying from these diseases.
Increased stress
According Julio Díaz, head of the Department of Epidemiology, Carlos III Health Institute and coordinator of the study, high noise levels favor stress mechanisms that can cause cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic alterations in people with short-term pathologies. "In this way, noise is the precipitating factor of a chain of biological mechanisms whose outcome it could be death", concludes Díaz.
Researchers believe that the fact that asthma mortality is not directly related to high levels of sound reinforces the theory that the noise, through an increase in cortisol levels, causes the weakening of the immune system. Asthma not being a disease infectious Respiratory disease, such as pneumonia, is not affected by this phenomenon.
Silence the rooms
Since traffic can not be stopped and the noise stopped, the best thing to do is to isolate the room where he falls asleep from the sounds that cars cause on the street. For this you can resort to windows with double crystal that viten that the passage of cars and other annoying noise damage our rest during the night.
Also, learn relaxation techniques It will contribute to reduce stress, preventing the increase in the chances of dying from these diseases is reduced. These are some of them:
1. Practice exercise. Any physical activity is a means that can free us from daily stress and worries.
2. Have a good rest area. The place where we sleep must be a haven of peace where to disconnect. To do this, external stimuli such as mobile devices, laptops and any electronic device must be avoided to avoid technological insomnia.
3. Schedules and routine. The body needs a set schedule and whenever possible, you have to go to bed at the same time. This will facilitate that the organism enters in a state of ideal relaxation to sleep when approaching this hour.
4. Tranquility. Avoid conflicts and bad thoughts before going to sleep, it is important for rest. Do not think of anything negative and take a break.
Damián Montero
