Heart Attack Risk Increases Living Under a Flight Path

The risk of dying from a heart attack increases from living under a flight path, claims a new study. Scientists say the constant noise from roaring aircraft engines increases the risk by at least 30 per cent.

Researchers are unsure why noisy planes are so dangerous - but believe they raise stress levels, disrupt sleep and trigger high blood pressure.

"The effect was especially evident for people who were exposed to really high levels of noise, and was dependent on how long those people had lived in the noisy place," the Daily Mail quoted researcher Dr Matthias Egger, of the University of Bern, as saying.

Using detailed information from an ongoing study called the Swiss National Cohort, Dr Egger and his colleagues identified 15,532 heart attack deaths among Swiss residents between late 2000 and the end of 2005.

The researchers were able to work out the aircraft noise and air quality for each person over 15 years or longer.

Those exposed to a daily average of at least 60 decibels of noise had a 30 per cent greater risk of dying from a heart attack than those exposed to less than 45 decibels.

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Among those exposed to the higher decibel levels for 15 or more years, the risk was 50 per cent higher.

The report has been published in the journal Epidemiology.

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Source-ANI