| Maybe getting the silent treatment at home | | | | the golden years.For seniors, constant |
| isn't a bad thing after all.With the constant | | | | exposure to noise may increase the risk of |
| barrage of leaf blowers, lawn mowers and loud | | | | heart attack. Studies have shown that, much |
| appliances swirling around us, it's no wonder | | | | like women's eating habits were altered by |
| "I need some peace and quiet!" has become | | | | stress-inducing noise, that consistent |
| such a popular plea. If your neighbor decides | | | | exposure to noise leads to increased blood |
| to fire up the chainsaw Sunday morning while | | | | pressure. This change, along with changes in |
| you're sipping coffee and enjoying the | | | | cholesterol, can lead to heart disease.Some |
| newspaper, chalk up another frazzled nerve. | | | | Sound Decorating DecisionsCertainly, |
| And scientists and health officials aren't | | | | noise-related health issues shouldn't lead |
| just dismissing noise at home as a nuisance; | | | | you to hide out in a soundproof room the rest |
| they're taking the issue seriously.The noise | | | | of your life, but having peace, and piece of |
| inside your home will never rival that of the | | | | mind at home can go a long way in reducing |
| outside world. However, it should be a | | | | stress.More homes are looking like the local |
| sanctuary from the clatter and commotion of | | | | audio-video store, with high-definition TVs, |
| our environment. With simple solutions to | | | | surround-sound systems and booming video |
| reducing indoor noise, you can turn a | | | | games. This is in addition to the old |
| hurly-burly home into a healthy, happy | | | | standbys: barking dogs and screaming |
| one.Volumes of Information on Noise and | | | | kids.Basically, sound needs someplace to go. |
| Health Sure, we have all heard there's too | | | | The way to quiet things down may seem |
| much fat in our diet. Well, maybe there's too | | | | strange, but it's a solution that is pure |
| much noise in our diets, too. Now, you can't | | | | science. Absorbing sound is one way to turn |
| eat noise like pint of Haagen-Daz, but you | | | | down the volume in your house, and the best |
| sure can feel it, and the end result can be | | | | place to start is your floors.Area rugs and |
| more stress and frustration.A 2004 study that | | | | carpet serve as sound insulators. With |
| appeared in the Journal of Applied Social | | | | builders reshaping homes to combine big |
| Psychology, concluded that women were more | | | | spaces, like the popular great room, noise |
| vulnerable to snacking and overeating than | | | | levels have gone up. Rugs and carpet reduce |
| men when exposed to loud noise. Researchers | | | | the sound that bounces off walls and floors. |
| found that women exposed to loud noise were | | | | Homes with hard surfaces like tile and wood |
| more likely than men to indulge in common | | | | floors - where carpeting isn't used - really |
| junk foods like popcorn, potato chips and | | | | benefit from the use of area rugs. Not only |
| chocolate.The study took three groups of men | | | | do area rugs help soak up noise, they also |
| and women, asking them to complete common | | | | provide a form of insulation when used |
| math problems while exposing them to | | | | beneath tables and chairs. Because hardwood |
| alternating levels of noise. The third | | | | floors tend to amplify sound the most, using |
| control group wasn't exposed to any noise | | | | a pad under an area rug is also |
| during their problem-solving tasks.Between | | | | beneficial.Most flooring bounces sound around |
| sessions, the study participants were left | | | | like a rubber ball, but cork flooring is |
| alone in a room with several types of bland, | | | | actually a noise-reducing product. The |
| high-fat food. The study showed that women | | | | material can also be used as an |
| who gave up and were discouraged by the | | | | "underlayment" for laminate and hardwood |
| assigned tasks ate significantly more than | | | | floors.Other noise-reducing household tricks |
| the women who were not frustrated.While men's | | | | include using slipcovers, pillows and drapes |
| performance was also altered during the | | | | instead of blinds. Small spaces around doors |
| study, the research showed that the affects | | | | and windows can also let unwanted sound in. |
| from noise lingered longer in women. The | | | | Close them up with weather stripping.Shelves |
| researchers concluded that the impact from a | | | | with books, valances and even potted plants |
| noisy environment and lack of control over | | | | can help. And sound machines can add a bit of |
| that environment can manifest itself as | | | | tranquility throughout the house while |
| stress in women and may lead them to | | | | helping drown out the police helicopter or |
| overindulging in fatty foods.Not | | | | the takeoff of that Gulfstream jet.The |
| surprisingly, the issue of noise not only | | | | kitchen can benefit as well, with throw rugs, |
| leads to stress in adults, but can leave a | | | | wood cabinets and stone tables, all sound |
| significant imprint on a child's ability to | | | | absorbers.Noise is something we all have to |
| learn.A recent German study showed that | | | | live with. But it doesn't mean we have to |
| children exposed to loud noises learned to | | | | like it or are powerless to do anything. A |
| read more slowly. It also concluded that | | | | theologian once said: "There is a close |
| being subjected to loud surroundings had an | | | | connection between tranquility and sanity." |
| impact on motivation, long-term memory and | | | | And what better way to practice that |
| speech acquisition."This study ...nails down | | | | philosophy then by starting at home.Based in |
| that it is almost certain that noise is | | | | Los Angeles, Ron Neal is a free-lance writer, |
| causing the difference in children's ability | | | | editor and owner of Writemind Media. With |
| to learn and read," says environmental stress | | | | more than 20 years of experience, including |
| researcher Gary Evans, a PhD from Cornell | | | | six at the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Neal has |
| University and the lead researcher on the | | | | produced and edited hundreds of articles on a |
| study. Evans has also discovered that blood | | | | variety of subjects, including flooring, home |
| pressure and levels of stress hormones were | | | | improvement and area rugs of all kinds, |
| higher in children subjected to a noisy | | | | including Oriental rugs. |
| environment.Silence can also be golden during | | | | |