Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Living on a busy, noisy road can lift your risk of stroke

I have just learned that living on a busy, noisy road can increase your risk of stroke, particularly if you are an older person. The theory is that the constant noise stresses you and keeps your blood pressure up.

I can definitely relate to this effect. For the last six months I was living in Sydney I was on quite a busy road in Leichhardt. The cars just constantly going past really put me on edge.

The place was also half-way down a hill, part of a little basin. I think a lot of carbon monoxide just kind of settled there. Some days, I actually felt woozy as a result.

It was weird, because I'd lived for years in Newtown, which was just down the road, and had none of these problems. But that was on a quiet street, and the land was elevated somewhat.

The main stressor there was planes flying over head regularly (which I had in Leichhardt also). But I'd become pretty used to that.

One thing's for sure, you certainly get heaps more sensitive to these environmental factors with age.