If you have a pacemaker, watch where you put your iPod!
Now, granted, it is not believed that many people with pacemakers use iPods, but if you are a ‘hip senior’, you may! And, we have to remember that Baby Boomers are now in that category, and we all know THEY are hip!
The results of a recent study looking at how iPods may interfere with pacemakers was presented at the Heart Rhythm Society annual meeting in Denver. The lead author of the study is a high school student who’s father is an electrophysiologist (a physician who studies the electrical properties of biological cells and tissues).
The study resulted from Jay Thaker asking his father if there could be an interaction between pacemakers and iPods. They did an online search and couldn’t find anything, but when one of his father’s patients asked the same question, Jay’s father connected Jay with Dr. Krit Jongnarangsin, senior author of the study and an assistant professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Michigan.
The study tested the effect of iPods on 100 patients, whose mean age was 77, outfitted with pacemakers. Electrical interference was detected half of the time when the iPod was held just 2 inches from the patient’s chest for 5 to 10 seconds. In some cases, the iPods caused interference when held 18 inches from the chest. Interfering with the telemetry equipment caused the device to misread the heart’s pacing and in one case caused the pacemaker to stop functioning altogether.
This led the authors of the study to wonder how often iPods cause misdiagnosis of actual heart function, and Jay is interested in studying how implantable cardioverter defibrillators, ICD’s, are affected by iPods.
So, what if you do have a pacemaker and an iPod? First of all, I would suggest discussing the results of this study with your cardiologist. I measured out 18 inches and, because I am short-waisted, this means that if I were to have a pacemaker, I would have to keep my iPod at my knees if I were to carry it with me. Therefore, I suspect I wouldn’t use it. Even if I used it in my car, my guess is it would still be closer than 18 inches from my chest.
What ever happened to cassette players?
The results of a recent study looking at how iPods may interfere with pacemakers was presented at the Heart Rhythm Society annual meeting in Denver. The lead author of the study is a high school student who’s father is an electrophysiologist (a physician who studies the electrical properties of biological cells and tissues).
The study resulted from Jay Thaker asking his father if there could be an interaction between pacemakers and iPods. They did an online search and couldn’t find anything, but when one of his father’s patients asked the same question, Jay’s father connected Jay with Dr. Krit Jongnarangsin, senior author of the study and an assistant professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Michigan.
The study tested the effect of iPods on 100 patients, whose mean age was 77, outfitted with pacemakers. Electrical interference was detected half of the time when the iPod was held just 2 inches from the patient’s chest for 5 to 10 seconds. In some cases, the iPods caused interference when held 18 inches from the chest. Interfering with the telemetry equipment caused the device to misread the heart’s pacing and in one case caused the pacemaker to stop functioning altogether.
This led the authors of the study to wonder how often iPods cause misdiagnosis of actual heart function, and Jay is interested in studying how implantable cardioverter defibrillators, ICD’s, are affected by iPods.
So, what if you do have a pacemaker and an iPod? First of all, I would suggest discussing the results of this study with your cardiologist. I measured out 18 inches and, because I am short-waisted, this means that if I were to have a pacemaker, I would have to keep my iPod at my knees if I were to carry it with me. Therefore, I suspect I wouldn’t use it. Even if I used it in my car, my guess is it would still be closer than 18 inches from my chest.
What ever happened to cassette players?
posted by Margie Geiser, MBA, RD, NSCA-CPT at
10:09 AM
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