Protect your heart with a healthy diet, exercise, aspirin...and...earplugs? Frequent exposure to noises at home or work raises blood pressure and your risk of heart attack, several studies warn.
When 46 factory workers wore blood-pressure monitors on the job, University of Michigan scientists found that their blood pressure rose two points for every 10 to 13 decibel increases in workplace noise, which ranged from 40 to 100 decibels. Meanwhile, a German study discovered that living in a noisy neighborhood, where traffic raised decibel levels above 60, tripled a woman's risk of heart attack; men's risk doubled.
Excess noise increases stress hormones that constrict arteries. When it's loud enough that you have to raise your voice to be heard by someone three feet away, put in earplugs. We also recommend wearing them to loud social events too, and buying appliances with low-noise ratings.
-from Prevention Magazine.
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