Residential exposure to transportation noise in Denmark and incidence of dementia: national cohort study

Abstract

Objective To investigate the association between long term residential exposure to road traffic and railway noise and risk of incident dementia. Design Nationwide prospective register based cohort study. Setting Denmark. Participants 1 938 994 adults aged ≥60 years living in Denmark between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2017. Main outcome measures Incident cases of all cause dementia and dementia subtypes (Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, and Parkinson’s disease related dementia), identified from national hospital and prescription registries. Results The study population included 103 500 participants with incident dementia, and of those, 31 219 received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, 8664 of vascular dementia, and 2192 of Parkinson’s disease related dementia. Using Cox regression models, 10 year mean exposure to road traffic and railway noise at the most (L den max) and least (L den min) exposed façades of buildings were associated with a higher risk of all cause dementia. These associations showed a general pattern of higher hazard ratios with higher noise exposure, but with a levelling off or even small declines in risk at higher noise levels. In subtype analyses, both road traffic noise and railway noise were associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease, with hazard ratios of 1.16 (95% confidence interval 1.11 to 1.22) for road L den max ≥65 dB compared with <45 dB, 1.27 (1.22 to 1.34) for road L den min ≥55 dB compared with <40 dB, 1.16 (1.10 to 1.23) for railway L den max ≥60 dB compared with <40 dB, and 1.24 (1.17 to 1.30) for railway L den min ≥50 dB compared with <40 dB. Road traffic, but not railway, noise was associated with an increased risk of vascular dementia. Results indicated associations between road traffic L den min and Parkinson’s disease related dementia. Conclusions This nationwide cohort study found transportation noise to be associated with a higher risk of all cause dementia and dementia subtypes, especially Alzheimer’s disease.

Long-Term Effects of Aircraft Noise Exposure on Vascular Oxidative Stress, Endothelial Function and Blood Pressure: No Evidence for Adaptation or Tolerance Development

“…Other studies also provided evidence that traffic noise exposure increases the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment (Yu et al, 2020). Most recently, a nationwide study from Denmark including almost 2 million adults aged ≥60 years examined the association between long-term exposure to road traffic and railway noise and risk of incident dementia (Cantuaria et al, 2021). The authors revealed that both road traffic noise and railway noise were associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, while road traffic, but not railway, noise was also associated with an increased risk of vascular dementia.…”

“…Non-auditory effects including disturbance of sleep and communication may lead to emotional reactions such as annoyance, leading to amygdala and hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis activation with subsequent increased stress hormone release (Daiber et al, 2019;Osborne et al, 2020). Noise has also a negative impact on the cognitive development of children (Stansfeld et al, 2005) such as learning and memory and also may cause mental disease including in particular Alzheimer's disease (Cantuaria et al, 2021), depression and anxiety disorders (Beutel et al, 2016). Previous studies have demonstrated that annoyance and mental stress in response to noise is strongly connected to an adaptation/habituation processes (Stansfeld, 1992).…”

Redox Switches in Noise-Induced Cardiovascular and Neuronal Dysregulation

“…Additionally, the existence of a gut-brain axis appears to be a central player for mood and behavior regulation as well as for the development of neuropsychiatric disorders and intestinal inflammatory disease ( Collins et al, 2012 ; Cryan and Dinan, 2012 ). This may also be of particular interest for the present review as transportation noise is obviously also associated with a higher incidence of all-cause dementia, namely Alzheimer’s disease ( Cantuaria et al, 2021 ). These states are noteworthy in the current context due to their known cardiovascular and mental risk ( Hahad et al, 2019 ).…”

Reader Response: Diet Inflammatory Index and Dementia Incidence: A Population-Based Study

“…The article by Charisis et al comes at a time when there is no fully approved treatment for dementia and an ever-growing list of “associations” with dementia, 1 featuring risk genes to dietary intake to residential traffic noise exposure. 2,3 However, there is a mismatch between promising associations and the interventions these associations inspire for use with patients, 4 the overwhelming majority of which fail to have any impact. The authors hope that the information they contribute “might avail the development of primary dementia preventive strategies through tailored and precise dietary interventions” 1 should be tempered in the light of such a sobering observation.…”