LONDON - Living near an airport isn’t just irritating, it is also unhealthy, researchers said on Wednesday, in a study that showed loud noise instantly boosts a sleeping person’s blood pressure.

The louder the noise, the higher a person’s blood pressure went, a finding that suggests people who live near airports may have a greater risk of health problems, said Lars Jarup, who led the European Commission-funded study.

“Living near airports where you have exposure to night time aircraft noise is a major issue,” Jarup, an environmental health researcher at the University of Glasgow, told Reuters.

“The reason we did airports is because there was no study that has looked at particular problems of aircraft noise.”

High blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart failure, heart attack and kidney failure. It affects more than a billion adults worldwide.

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Airport Noise Can Seriously Affect The Health And Psychological Well-Being Of Children

CornellNews (Mar. 6, 1998) — ITHACA, N.Y. -- The constant roar from jet aircraft can seriously affect the health and psychological well-being of children, according to a new Cornell University study. The health problems resulting from chronic airport noise, including higher blood pressure and boosted levels of stress hormones, the researchers say, may have lifelong effects.

"This study is probably the most definitive proof that noise causes stress and is harmful to humans," says Gary Evans, a professor of design and environmental analysis in Cornell's College of Human Ecology. This is, he says, the first longitudinal study of noise and human beings to look at the same group of individuals before and after noise pollution.

Airport noise and pollution linked to increased health problems

Researchers have known for years that exposure to excessively-loud noise can cause changes in blood pressure as well as changes in sleep and digestive patterns -- all signs of stress on the human body. The very word “noise” itself derives from the Latin word “noxia,” which means injury or hurt.

Airport Noise and Pollution Increases Risk for Illness
On a 1997 questionnaire distributed to two groups--one living near a major airport, and the other in a quiet neighborhood--two-thirds of those living near the airport indicated they were bothered by aircraft noise, and most said that it interfered with their daily activities. The same two-thirds complained more than the other group of sleep difficulties, and also perceived themselves as being in poorer health.

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