Living next to highway can send your BP soaring

A new study has revealed that living near a major roadway can increase the risk of high blood pressure.

According to the study by Brown University, which analysed data from 5,400 post-menopausal women in the San Diego metropolitan area, 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.

The study found that 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, and lifestyle and even local fast food availability.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.