University of Dusseldorf study shows sitting in traffic can raise blood pressure

tunisante October 25, 2016

Traffic fumes and noise both increase likelihood of hypertension
This can result in a higher risk of having a heart attack or a stroke
Researchers in five countries tracked 41,000 people for nine years

Ben Spencer Medical Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published:
18:40 EST, 24 October 2016

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Updated:
19:04 EST, 24 October 2016

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People living near busy roads are at significantly higher risk of having raised blood pressure, researchers have found.

Traffic fumes and noise both increase a person’s risk of what doctors call hypertension – which in turn raises the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

The world’s biggest ever study into the health impact of air and noise pollution found that people living in the most polluted areas were more than a fifth more likely to develop high blood pressure.

Researchers in five countries tracked 41,000 people for nine years.

Houses can be seen at the top of a slip roads of the North Circular road, London. Researchers believe the people living in them are at risk of high blood pressure

They found that the extra risk of daily exposure to pollution for a healthy slim person had the equivalent negative health impact as if they had simply been overweight.

The study, conducted in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Spain, involved people who did not have high blood pressure when they joined the programme.

After nine years those exposed to the highest air pollution were 22 per cent more likely to have developed high blood pressure than those who lived in the areas of lowest air pollution.

And those in the noisiest streets – with an average night-time noise of 50 decibels – were 6 per cent more likely to develop the condition than those in the quietest, where the average noise levels were 40 decibels at night.

Lead author Professor Barbara Hoffmann, an environmental epidemiologist at at Heinrich-Heine-University of Dusseldorf, Germany, said: ‘Our findings show that long-term exposure to particulate air pollution is associated with a higher incidence of self-reported hypertension and with intake of anti-hypertensive medication.

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‘As virtually everybody is exposed to air pollution for all of their lives, this leads to a high number of hypertension cases, posing a great burden on the individual and on society.

‘Exposure to traffic noise shares many of the same sources with air pollution.’

‘Given the ubiquitous presence of air pollution and the importance of hypertension as the most important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, these results have important public health consequences and call for more stringent air quality regulations.’

Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said last night: ‘High blood pressure is a silent killer. You may not notice you have it, but it can increase your risk of coronary heart disease and stroke which is why managing your blood pressure is so important.

‘Air pollution, particularly from small particles in diesel fumes, is known to increase a person’s risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The world’s biggest ever study into the health impact of pollution found that people living in the most polluted areas were more at risk by in excess than a fifth (file image)

‘However, further research is needed to understand exactly how air pollutants can increase blood pressure and how important their effects are on cardiovascular health.’

Jenny Bates, air pollution expert at Friends of the Earth, added: ‘The evidence continues to mount about the impact of air pollution on people’s health and well-being.

‘Air pollution leads to 40,000 early deaths in the UK every year. It causes lung cancer, contributes to respiratory disease including worsening of asthma, and to heart disease with this latest study linking it to high blood pressure.

‘Urgent action is needed to get dirty diesel vehicles off our roads, and to reduce road traffic.’