Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Environmental Risks / 22.03.2023
Long Term Exposure to Road Traffic Noise Linked to Hypertension Risk
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
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Prof. Rahimi[/caption]
Kazem Rahimi FRCP, DM, MSc, FESC
Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Population Health
University of Oxford
Consultant cardiologist
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The prevalence of hypertension has been rising worldwide. To mitigate the burden, identifying the modifiable environmental risk factors of hypertension and developing preventive interventions constitute important public health priorities. Despite the biological plausibility of the link between road traffic noise and the risk of hypertension, the quality of relevant evidence has been low, and the role of air pollution has been uncertain.
Prof. Rahimi[/caption]
Kazem Rahimi FRCP, DM, MSc, FESC
Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Population Health
University of Oxford
Consultant cardiologist
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The prevalence of hypertension has been rising worldwide. To mitigate the burden, identifying the modifiable environmental risk factors of hypertension and developing preventive interventions constitute important public health priorities. Despite the biological plausibility of the link between road traffic noise and the risk of hypertension, the quality of relevant evidence has been low, and the role of air pollution has been uncertain.
Prof. Papageorghiou[/caption]
Aris Papageorghiou MBChB, MRCOG
Professor of Fetal Medicine and the Clinical Research Director
Oxford Maternal and Perinatal Health Institute
University of Oxford
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Our study was really guided by a key question: does Covid-19 in pregnancy increase the risk of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes as compared with pregnant women who do not have the infection?
The question is highly relevant because of the known deleterious effects of other coronavirus infections in pregnancy, e.g. SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus).
In order to answer this question we undertook this multinational cohort study.