Approximately 38 million Americans suffer from impaired hearing and it's estimated that dangerous levels of noise in the workplace will result in one in four workers developing hearing loss, according to the Center for Hearing and Communication.
In recognition of International Noise Awareness Day today, take a moment to reflect on how noise might be disrupting your daily life and, possibly, harming your health. According to a recent report by the World Health Organization's European office:
There is sufficient evidence from large-scale epidemiological studies linking the population’s exposure to environmental noise with adverse health effects. Therefore, environmental noise should be considered not only as a cause of nuisance but also a concern for public health and environmental health.
...at least one million healthy life years are lost every year from traffic-related noise in the western part of Europe.
The study breaks out the results into several specific types of noise health impacts. Every year in the EU, noise is estimated to cause:
- 61,000 lost years of healthy living due to noise-related heart disease
- 45,000 years lost due to cognitive impairment of children
- 903,000 years due to sleep disturbance
- 22,000 years due to tinnitus
- 587,000 years due to annoyance
At Stanford, scientists are exploring stem cell-based research to better understand the molecular basis of hearing in order to develop better treatments for hearing loss. Although they've made significant progress, treatments are still a ways off so it's best to protect your hearing.
Previously: Getting a good night's sleep, Popular vuvuzela poses health risk to World Cup fans and Growing new inner-ear cells: a step toward a cure for deafness
Photo by: mollypop
