Here's something interesting!
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/523764?src=mpLoud Noise Exposure Increases Acoustic Neuroma Risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Feb 16 - Prolonged exposure to loud noise is associated with an increased risk of acoustic neuroma, results of a case-control study suggest.
Acoustic neuroma is a benign tumor of the vestibular division of the eighth cranial nerve, and is associated with hearing loss, tinnitus, and disequilibrium. The only published study regarding noise and acoustic neuroma risk was limited by small size and its restriction to men only, Dr. Colin G. Edwards and colleagues note in their report, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology for February 15.
Dr. Edwards, from Ohio State University in Columbus, and colleagues at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm documented all patients diagnosed with acoustic neuroma between 1999 and 2002 in three geographic areas in Sweden. They interviewed 146 patients and 564 control subjects regarding types and duration of loud noise exposure.
Exposure to loud noise, defined as that exceeding a level of 80 decibels, was associated with an odds ratio of 1.55. There was also an association between exposure duration and risk of acoustic neuroma (p for trend = 0.0056), and between latency since first exposure and risk (p for trend = 00029).
The categories associated with the highest risk were exposure to machines, power tools, and/or construction (OR 1.79) and exposure to music, including employment in the music industry (OR 2.25).
The authors observed that the risk associated with noise exposure was found in both men and women.
However, there was no risk associated with loud noise when hearing protection was used (OR 0.92).
"The findings of an increased risk of acoustic neuroma with loud noise exposure support previous research," Dr. Edwards' group notes. They recommend additional research to validate self-reports of noise exposure and to examine the possibility of detection bias.
Am J Epidemiol 2006;163:327-333.
