Noises are defined as disagreeable sounds, but this suggests that they are no more than an annoyance, something to be put up with. There is increasing evidence that noise, on the scale that people who live in big cities have to deal with, is dangerous and can give rise to serious health and social problems. Some of which, such as its effects on people's behavior and anger levels, you might not have thought were caused by noise, and are health concerns. There is, of course, the almost constant noise of traffic, though this isn't a particularly modern problem. In ancient Rome, there were rules to minimize the noise made by the iron wheels of wagons, which battered the stones on the pavement, causing disruption of sleep. Traffic noise is one of the health hazards, as it can lead to other problems, like noise-induced hearing impairment. It is also highly distracting, interfering with speech communication and leisure time relaxation, and while this doesn't drive you mad in the medical sense, it is intensely annoying and can lead to mental health problems. Also, noise, whether you work in a place where loud machinery is operating or not, can have an effect on performance at work; though in itself not a health matter, this can lead to other problems.