Noise pollution could increase the chances of heart attack

New research from The World Health Organization has shown that high levels of noise can lead to elevated rates of stress and annoyance, which could lead to heart attacks and high blood pressure.

As well as being environmentally detrimental, the report says that noise pollution can have "adverse psychosocial and physiological effects on public health… which can have serious health consequences".

One reason for this is that noise pollution can affect the amount of sleep people get at night.

Having a disturbed sleep can make people restless and agitated in the mornings.

This is especially prevalent when this process is continuous, meaning that individuals never get the chance to catch up on their missed sleep.

Dr Holt works for the National Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

He believes that sleep is absolutely vital to the everyday functioning of our body, as well as our welfare.

"Adequate restful sleep and mental well-being are as essential to good health as adequate nutrition and physical activity," he says.

In addition, mental and physical exhaustion can lead to insomnia.

These problems added up can increase an individual's chance of heart attacks or high blood pressure as these things are caused from huge amounts of stress.

Certain frequencies can result in permanent damage to our health, because when sound reaches a certain output in decibels can also leave us with irreparable health issues.

The problem is that our ears do not switch off when we are asleep, so we continue to be affected by noise pollution even when we are not conscious.

Dr Holt believes that far more time and work needs to go into understanding the consequences of high levels of noise pollution.

"Assessing and alleviating environmental noise is an essential element for improving or creating healthy communities where adults and children can play, work, and live," he says.