While living in urban areas brings plenty of benefits to its residents, it is not always beneficial to their health. For starters, urban dwellers are exposed to a lot more air pollution compared to people living in rural areas. They are also more likely to be infected with communicable diseases due to the dense populations of most cities. And now a recent study has revealed that increased noise levels in urban areas can do more than just annoy residents. The study found that people are more likely to develop tinnitus if they are exposed to traffic noise in their homes.
People living near busy roads are more likely to have increased stress levels and poor sleep schedules. Exposure to such conditions for extended periods may increase your risk of developing tinnitus, the study found.
Scientists from the University of Southern Denmark’s Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Institute and the Department of Clinical Research reviewed data from some 3.5 million Danes to determine the effect of continued exposure to traffic noise.
Manuella Lech Cantuaria, an assistant professor at the Mærsk Mc-Kinney-Møller Institute, stated that the research team discovered more than 40,000 tinnitus cases in their data set. Furthermore, they discovered that the risk of tinnitus increased by 6% with every 10 decibels or more of traffic noise that reached their home.
Jesper Hvass Schmidt, chief physician at Odense University Hospital and an associate professor at the Department of Clinical Research, added that there was need to focus more on the negative effects traffic noise could have on human health. Schmidt noted that it was quite alarming that noise seemed to heighten the risk of conditions such as tinnitus, dementia and cardiovascular disease.
In 2021, Schmidt and Cantuaria published a study that showed an association between the development of dementia and traffic noise.
Schmidt believes that since only the worse cases of tinnitus tend to reach hearing clinics such as the Odense University Hospital, the current number of reported cases is just the beginning. The condition affects around 8%–25% of the American population and has a correlation with poor sleep and stress, which can be exacerbated by traffic noise.
Cantuaria added that the impact on health could be even worse when there was traffic noise at night and residents were unable to get a full night’s sleep. Hence living near busy roads can lead to a cycle where traffic noise heightens your stress levels, messes with your sleep cycle and increases your risk of tinnitus.
Even though more studies will be needed to determine if traffic noise does indeed cause tinnitus, Cantuaria noted that leaders should consider traffic noise as a health risk and take it into account when making urban planning decisions.
In the meantime, for-profit entities such as Jupiter Wellness Inc. (NASDAQ: JUPW) are focused on developing treatments for tinnitus so that those who are affected can get some respite from the relentless ravages of this condition.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Jupiter Wellness Inc. (NASDAQ: JUPW) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/JUPW
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