Exposure to air pollution and road traffic noise over the years may heighten the risk of heart failure, suggests a large observational study.

The study evaluated over 22,000 female nurses in Denmark, 44 years of age and older, over 15 to 20 years, to assess the effects of exposure to small particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide and road traffic noise. Increased exposure to the pollutants after mere 3 years was found to be associated with a considerable increase in the risk of new heart failure. Former smokers and patients with hypertension were most vulnerable to the adverse effects of fine particulate matter. The association for road traffic noise was not as strong as for the air pollutants, but it still had a correlation with increased risk of heart failure. The findings are published in the Journal of the American Heart Association… (Medscape)