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Risk of Parkinson’s disease may increase with prolonged exposure to road traffic noise
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2026
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Noise consistently activates the stress axis, which governs extremely potent biochemical pathways and thus over time can bring about physical changes easily. Especially to sensitive tissues like nerve tissue. This is well established. It's similar with disturbed sleep. For Parkinson's disease specifically, the Guardian article mentions this:
"Potential", sure, but altogether (i.e. now also including the prospective (!) decade-long (!) cohort study with over three million (!) participants), the causal link is very probable.
Regarding the magnitude observed here, I admit a hazard ratio of 1.04 (so +4%) is not large. Note, though, that it's "per interquartile increment of 8.9 dB". So going up three quartiles (+27 dB, about 7 times as loud) already gives you somewhat above 12% additional risk.
This is territory where it's getting relevant for personal and societal decision-making—especially when considering that Parkinson's is just one disease of many.