Article of the Month
Article of the Month
EXPOSURE TO TRAFFIC CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH
German researchers report, in an article published in the October 21, 2004 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, that the risk of experiencing a heart attack during the hour following exposure to traffic is three times higher that hours following a similar period of time when the same persons who had the heart attacks in this study had not been exposed to traffic. The risk decreased as the time since exposure to traffic increased, with not impact seen three hours later.
The risk was similar regardless of the mode of transportation – whether by car, bus or bicycle. Bicycle riders did have a higher risk – four times higher in the hour following traffic exposure compared to hours not following traffic exposure – most likely due to their having been engaged in the heavy exertion of peddling the bike, a known risk factor that accounts for the spike in heart attacks among men shoveling snow after a blizzard.
Another factor that increased the risk associated with traffic exposure was unemployment. Employed persons' risk of a heart attack following traffic exposure was only about twice as large as that during hours not following traffic exposure. Among unemployed persons, this risk was over four times higher, most likely due to the higher level of stress they were experiencing as a result of that known stressful life situation.. The impact of traffic exposure on heart attack risk was also stronger during the morning hours, not surprising because getting up in the morning has been shown in prior research to increase risk of having a heart attack.
The authors of the study speculated that both stress and exposure to air pollution associated with traffic played a role in the increased risk.
What can you do to protect yourself against the heart-damaging effects of traffic, especially exposure during the morning hours or if you are already stressed by not having a job? At the community level, you might want to support efforts to pass legislation requiring automobile manufacturers to reduce exhaust emissions of harmful pollutants and toxins that may be playing a role in traffic-related heart attacks.
In the meanwhile, most of us don't have the luxury of not getting up in the morning or avoiding traffic, so it might be a good idea to learn some stress management skills to help us cope with the stresses associated with traffic. You might want, for example, when stuck in a traffic jam, to have some handy distraction strategies that can take your mind off your predicament and at the same time lower those stress hormone levels – listening to some soothing music on the car radio, planning your next vacation, or some form of meditation.
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