Effects of Noise on Physical Health

Effects of Noise on Health

• High level of noise can also lead to increase in arousal and stress.
• Incidences of Diseases related to stress-hypertension such as blood pressure, ulcers etc. would increase as one is exposed to higher levels of more unpredictable and uncontrollable noise.
• Noise has been linked to spontaneous outbreaks of illness related to stress and to incidence of neurological and gastrointestinal problems.
• Recent Studies suggest that noise affect immune system functions in humans and animals that could cause us more susceptible to infection.
• Ulcers appear more likely among workers which are exposed to a lot of occupational noise.
• Doring, Hauf and Seiberling (1980) have suggested that sound can effect intestinal tissue directly.
• Sustained noise exposure is associated with constriction of peripheral blood vessels in animals.
• At least one study has found an association between exposure of expected mother to air craft noise and infant mortality (Ando and Hattori, 1973).
• Survey or correlational  studies have found that frequent exposure to noise is associated with reports of acute and chronic illness.
• Frequent exposure to noise is associated with increased consumption of sleeping pills and the need to see a physician.
• Frequent loud noise exposure may lead to heightened electrodermal activity, higher diastolic and systolic blood pressure.
• Physiological changes accompanying exposure to noise are also associated with stress reactions and cardiovascular disorders.
• Few controlled experimental studies have been conducted that indicate a direct link between noise and heart diseases.
• Noise may cause a variety of physiological changes that may contribute to disease.
• Other studies have examined health problems among industrial workers as a function of exposure to noise, and these studies find modest relationships between exposure to high noise levels and cardiovascular disorders, allergies, sore throats, and digestive disorders.
• It is also possible that noise can effect health by changing behavior that are related to health.
• If people drink more coffee, smoke more cigarettes or fail to exercise because of noise exposure, then relationship between noise and health might be mediated by these behaviors.
• Overall it is difficult to relate noise directly to adverse affects on health. Adverse effects of noise may occur in conjunction with other stressors such as on-the-job tension.
• Adverse effects of noise may limited to those who are particularly susceptible to certain physiological orders. For example, in one study, noise effects on blood pressure were seen only in people with family histories of hypertension.