Living under f light path roar ‘may cause diabetes’

PEOPLE who live below an airport flight path are 86% more likely to have type 2 diabetes than people who live in quieter areas, a new study has found.

The findings have led scientists to suggest that aircraft noise, rather than air pollution, could be to blame. The scientists believe the noise from planes overhead has a devastating effect on the body’s metabolism, leading to increased blood sugar levels.

The researchers suspect such changes are linked to sleep disruption, and say that people can reduce their exposure to harmful noise levels simply by closing their windows at night.

Although most flights occur in the day, the scientists said there could be a knock-on effect on night-time sleep through raised stress levels.

The total number of people living with diabetes in Ireland is estimated to be approximately 226,000. According to a Healthy Ireland survey, 854,165 adults over 40 are at increased risk of developing (or have) type 2 diabetes. The condition can lead to heart disease, stroke, limb amputations and blindness. The International Diabetes Federation also estimates that by 2040, one in 10 adults will have diabetes.

The new findings could have major health implications for those living with the disease.

The link to aircraft noise was made by a team of scientists at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Basel, who studied more than 2,600 adults in a bid to establish the effects of noise and air pollution. They revealed their findings in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

Dr Mayanak Patel, of the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation, said the study had come up with ‘plausible mechanisms’ for the link between noise and diabetes.