Noise and Technology: Keys to Heart Health
By: Megan Dobbs
Updated: October 12, 2010
A study out of the University of British Columbia finds a loud workplace nearly triples the risk for heart attack and other heart problems. Experts based their research on surveys filled out by 6,000 U.S. employees. A job was considered "noisy" if workers had to raise their voices to talk. Participants who smoked, those under age fifty and men had an even greater risk for heart problems. Experts say working in a noisy environment could increase stress hormones -- a risk factor for heart attack. Participants had to work in a loud environment for at least a year and a half to see a negative effect.
Doctors may soon be able to use a new iPhone app to make sure your heart is healthy. The picture on the app is of a traditional stethoscope, but computer wizards say the old-fashioned stethoscope could be replaced by the new app. Its inventor, Dr. Peter Bentley, is an expert in computer science at University College in London. He's convinced the new app will be of great help to doctors, and to patients. And best of all, the app is expected to cost a dollar. A good stethoscope costs more than 200-dollars.
