Noise... Stop the noise!

I was having trouble coming up with a post this week.  So, I was reading through lots of information but nothing was inspiring.  Then I read an article about how noise affects our health but it didn't really come to much as far as a solution goes until I stumbled across another article in Wired.

Let me explain.  Life just gets noisier and noisier and a growing number of experts believe that noise is making us sick and that it is time to start a new diet... "The Noise Diet".

Studies have linked high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and even obesity to high levels of noise such as road traffic, trains, planes and crying children.

A Danish study, published in the European Heart Journal in 2011, found that for every ten decibel increase in nearby road noise, increased the risk of stroke in persons aged 65 and over by more than a quarter.

Researchers at Imperial College London and King's College London found in 2013 that people living near to Heathrow Airport had a greater risk of being admitted to hospital or dying prematurely.

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, have found that people who live near busy roads are more likely to gain weight around their middles than people who live in quieter areas.

People who lived under a flight path or near a railway also had a greater risk of being overweight and people exposed to all three types of traffic pollution had double the risk of weight gain.

Stephen Stansfeld, professor of psychiatry at Queen Mary University of London explains how noise affects health:

"Noise is a stressor that raises our arousal levels, influencing the nervous system and hormone levels in the body.  We are programmed to respond to noise, particularly if it represents a threat - and when we are under stress, the body secretes the fight or flight hormones including cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline, which are designed to get you out of danger.

"But those hormones also raise heart rate, blood pressure and encourage the body to lay down emergency fat supplies."

Noise also affects our sleep, which in turn has a negative impact on our health, leading to depression and fatigue during the day.

However, it isn't just about volume.  Different people find different types of noise annoying - some people can't take the noisy children, but for others it can be the low constant hum of technological equipment.

But how can you turn down environmental noise?  You have no control over traffic noise or the kids next door, so what can you do?

And here was my thing that they article didn't give much hope to the reader; the researchers haven't managed to come up with any really good solutions...

• Installing double glazing
• Wearing earplugs in bed
• Having more plants in the office apparently protects against noise as they absorb sound waves

One thing they do say is that putting music on or wearing headphones to listen to music to block out environmental noise or annoying sounds is not the solution... it's just even more noise.

But here is when I had that EUREKA! moment...  I stumbled across an interesting article in Wired written by David Pierce.

He has been to a San Francisco based company called Doppler that seems to have found the solution to the noise that surrounds us.

Doppler Labs have designed a set of earbuds called "HERE".  Yes, I know, I just said that headphones aren't the solution, but these earbuds are different.  HERE let you adjust the environmental noise to your liking.

HERE are not headphones, and they aren't a hearing aid either.  They let you customize your hearing.  You can turn down the volume of environmental noise.  You have volume control, an EQ for your ears.  You can turn the bass up and selectively mute sounds you don't want to hear.

Executive Chairman, Ftiz Lanman says,

"Hearing is a human feature, and we want to make that awesome.  Just having a volume knob in your ears is amazing."

The earbuds work with an app for your smartphone that lets you make all the adjustments you want, when you want.  So maybe, just maybe, we will be able to adjust environmental noise very soon.

HERE will be launched in December 2015, you can preorder now on Kickstarter for $179 with a retail price of $219 when they officially launch in December.

You can read the full article here.

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com