Health hazard: This is the surprising risk associated with living near a busy road

Could living near a busy road cause Parkinson's disease? Professor Eitan Friedman, director of the Institute of Genetics for Early Detection at Assuta Ramat HaHayal, believes the matter is much less dramatic.

As he explained in an interview with "HaOlam HaBoker" ("The World This Morning"), the discussion is based on a large study from Denmark that followed more than three million people for 17 years. The findings showed an increase of about 3% to 4% in the risk of developing Parkinson's disease for every additional 10 decibels, but Professor Friedman warns against drawing hasty conclusions. He emphasizes that the study does not prove causality, as it did not neutralize other significant risk factors such as genetic predisposition or previous head injuries.

While he argues that the link between noise and the risk of Parkinson's is relatively negligible, Friedman draws attention to another, proven and much more significant health risk lurking for those living near major thoroughfares: air pollution.

"The soot emitted by vehicles is a much more tangible danger to our health than noise," he said.