Sonic doom: how noise pollution kills thousands each year

From heart disease to type 2 diabetes, noise is having dire effects on people’s health. So who is most at risk, what can be done about it – and can you protect yourself?Shortly after I sat down to read up on the auditory and non-auditory effects of noise on health in the Lancet, the drilling began – an angry, jagged, intermittent frenzy of metal on plaster. Our downstairs neighbours have been refurbishing their flat for the past eight weeks or so, removing ceilings, walls and a