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Dementia rates 'higher near busy roads'

bbc.co.uk

21–30 of 60 posts

Re: Dementia rates 'higher near busy roads'

#21

Can't read the article because it's behind a paywall (sigh). Any indication of how the researchers defined a 'major road'? Was it purely size or done by traffic throughput over time? Or did they be use air pollution / noise measurements instead?

https://archive.fo/CCg3d

Re: Dementia rates 'higher near busy roads'

#22
post #18

Hum. I live maybe 3000 feet from very busy road. Luckily there is forest between my home and the road. From the article it would seem that my "risk factor" is nil. At 63 I am starting to think more about dementia risk factors.

I wouldnt worry too much. My grandfather has dementia symptoms and he's 90. You could have another 30 years.

One advice after watching him is to never quit your hobbies until you abosolutely have to. His mental decline was sharp after giving up hobbies he had for 40 years.

Re: Dementia rates 'higher near busy roads'

#23
post #22
post #18

Hum. I live maybe 3000 feet from very busy road. Luckily there is forest between my home and the road. From the article it would seem that my "risk factor" is nil. At 63 I am starting to think more about dementia risk factors.

I wouldnt worry too much. My grandfather has dementia symptoms and he's 90. You could have another 30 years. One advice after watching him is to never quit your hobbies until you abosolutely have to. His mental decline was sharp after giving up hobbies he had for 40 years.

Be careful with the direction of causality here. It may be that giving up his hobbies hastened his dementia, OTOH it could easily be that the onset of his dementia led to him giving up his hobbies.

Re: Dementia rates 'higher near busy roads'

#24

There is a correlation between living near busy (noisy) roads and sleep deprivation and also between sleep deprivation and dementia. Seems like a possible mechanism that didn't appear to be explored.

My initial thought follows this line. Even if a subject doesn't experience actual sleep deprivation, the constant external stimuli are still omni-present, regardless of how well the conscious mind tunes them out. Perhaps sub+consciously parts of the brain never get any rest, even while sleeping?

I know I feel less refreshed if I fall asleep and media or traffic outside is constant. A hotel room facing a freeway often leaves me waking unrefreshed, which can be partially mitigated if the room's fan blower is left on for continuous, monotonous white noise masking.

Re: Dementia rates 'higher near busy roads'

#25
I was wondering lately why noise-cancelling technology is not used inside residential-buildings? Is there such a big difference between making this technology work inside my Bose-headphones vs an apartment? Street-noise seems pretty predictable and steady from afar.

edit: bad bad grammar

Re: Dementia rates 'higher near busy roads'

#26

I was wondering lately why noise-cancelling technology is not used inside residential-buildings? Is there such a big difference between making this technology work inside my Bose-headphones vs an apartment? Street-noise seems pretty predictable and steady from afar. edit: bad bad grammar

ANC/R works by sending out the opposite waveform of the noise, at about the same volume. It does not remove noise.

Passive noise control through insulation is the best solution for residential buildings.

Re: Dementia rates 'higher near busy roads'

#27
It is not pollution, it is the noise and the low quality of sleep that causes dementia. Good sleep quality is important so the glymphatic system that cleans the brain of garbage while sleeping can work well. See this recent article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nedergaard-how-th...

Re: Dementia rates 'higher near busy roads'

#28
post #27

It is not pollution, it is the noise and the low quality of sleep that causes dementia. Good sleep quality is important so the glymphatic system that cleans the brain of garbage while sleeping can work well. See this recent article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nedergaard-how-th...

A shorter video is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96aZtk4hVJM

Re: Dementia rates 'higher near busy roads'

#30
post #26

I was wondering lately why noise-cancelling technology is not used inside residential-buildings? Is there such a big difference between making this technology work inside my Bose-headphones vs an apartment? Street-noise seems pretty predictable and steady from afar. edit: bad bad grammar

ANC/R works by sending out the opposite waveform of the noise, at about the same volume. It does not remove noise. Passive noise control through insulation is the best solution for residential buildings.

I have long wanted to investigate advanced methods of reducing noise transmission between rooms; it seems to me that's a area that will clearly need improvement if we really expect cities of the future to be towers and condos instead of standalone houses. But you're correct that whatever solution does exist won't look / act like noise-canceling headphones.
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