(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — A Swedish research team has concluded that long term exposure to loud noise, such as rock music, may increase the risk of developing a benign nerve tumor called an acoustic neuroma.
The tumor, which grows inside the skull, can cause contant ringing in the ears, affect balance and result in deafness, according to the New York Times. It occurs mainly in people over 50.
The group’s findings will be published in the February 15th edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
The researchers studied a population of 3.9 million people covered by Swedish tumor registries and interviewed 146 with acoustic neuromas, who were compared to a randomly selected group of 564 people who did not have the tumors. The participants discussed their lifetime exposure to noise exceeding 80 decibels – approximately the noise level of city traffic.
In general, the longer people were exposed to loud noises, the more likely they were to develop acoustic neuroma, according to the paper.
People who were regularly exposed to loud music, including people in the music industry, showed the greatest risk, at more than twice as likely as others to have the tumors.
People steadily facing construction noise were 1.7 times as likely to have a tumor, and those exposed to screaming children, sports events and noise in restaurants and bars were 1.4 times as likely to be affected. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
