Living nearby a busy roadway may increase the risk of dying sooner for heart attack survivors, according to a study released in the May 8 issue of the journal, Circulation.
Those living within 300 feet of a major roadway at the time of their heart attack are 27 percent more likely to die over a ten year period than those who live at least 3,200 feet from a major roadway, the study showed.
Causes could include air pollution and traffic noise, researchers said. Long term exposure to air pollution has previously shown to increase the likelihood of death from heart disease.
"[People] with lower levels of education and income are more likely to live in communities closer to a major roadway, so they are bearing a larger burden of the risk associated with exposure than people with more resources," study author Dr. Murray Mittleman, director of the Cardiovascular Research Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said in a journal news release.
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