Noise impairs our cardiovascular health

…and I'm not the only one-- it's getting a lot more attention as our world gets increasingly louder. Car traffic noise has tripled in the last 30 years, and air traffic noise is expected to double in the next 10 years. ⁠
⁠
Hearing cars go by at levels louder than 42 decibels over time is linked with increased risk of heart attack, and the risk increases with every 10 additional decibels. Same with blood pressure, stroke, and coronary heart disease. ⁠
⁠
How!? Constant human-made noise, *especially* air traffic noise at night, triggers stress hormones to be released. Even though we may not be consciously aware of it, these hormones cause inflammation and raise our blood pressure and heart rate. The World Health Organization did a major noise pollution study in 2011 and found that even being *annoyed* by a noise you can't control increases your risk of disease.⁠
⁠
There are lots of things we can do to our homes to keep our noise exposure lower-- from airplanes, dishwashers, neighbors, random passersby digging through your glass recycling, etcetera. ⁠
⁠
First, though: even if you don't consider your house noisy, pay attention for a minute and take stock- what can you hear and where is it coming from? I also downloaded the Decibel Meter Master app (free) and am stunned by how noisy it is in here. ⁠