Study: living near major roads has health risks

PROVIDENCE – A new study by Brown University researchers in the Journal of the American Heart Association reports a significant association between living near a major roadway and the risk of high blood pressure.
The analysis of data from 5,400 post-menopausal women found that women who lived within 100 meters of a highway or major arterial road had a 22 percent greater risk of hypertension than women who lived at least 1,000 meters away. In a range of intermediate distances, hypertension risk rose with proximity to the roadways.
Put in epidemiological terms, a 58-year-old woman in the study who lived close to a major road had the blood-pressure risk of a 60-year-old woman who lived far from one. The elevated risks reported in the study statistically account for a wide range of confounding cardiovascular risk factors including age, demographics, health, lifestyle and even local fast-food availability. •

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