In our continuing saga of how well iPods and pacemakers play well (and by well, we mean, they don’t) together, we bring you this little story from Heart Insight (haven’t you ever wanted insight unto your heart?), the trade mag published by the American Heart Association.
The AHA is confirming what we’ve known for months now, which is that iPods do seem to cause some sort of interference with pacemakers, saying that: “Researchers found that MP3 players, such as Apple’s iPod, interfered with pacemaker function in half of the 83 patients who participated in the study; none of them experienced symptoms.”
But Wired Science points astutely points out:
“The iPods ‘interfered with pacemaker function,’ but nobody actually experienced symptoms. Instead, recordings made by the pacemaker were skewed when the iPod was held two inches [from the] heart. That’s a legitimate problem — a careless physician could conclude that something is wrong the device — but it’s a long way from ‘haywire.’ As for scanners stopping hearts rather than shoplifters, two isolated case reports are not reason for alarm.”
It seems like further study is in order here. AHA, your thoughts?
There are a whole host of “unintentional transmitters” that have the same negative effect on medical devices. The medical industry has known this for years. (That's why they don't allow there use in hospitals.) Why don't they try cell phones, GPS devices, DVD players, clock radios, etc.?
I can see it already. This is turning into another lets target Apple campaign. Maybe instead of going after Apple, we should ask the FCC how they can grant FCC approval to a device that does indeed have a potentially dangerous negative emission.
Maybe the chances of such a combination (patient with pacemaker/iPod/right conditions) are so remote that it does not warrant a concern.
I bet if anyone went out a found 83 people with a pacemaker they could strap all kinds of stuff to them until eventually they found something that had a negative effect. “Aha! Look, these iPods cause a problem! We should tell someone.” You know what? If you already have the answer, it's pretty easy to come up with the question.
Let's play this out…
“Scientists are lobbying against the coffee industry today. A recent study showed that when 83 people were given 10 cups of coffee in a row, all exhibited severe stomach cramps. The coffee industry could not be reached for comment.”
Damn, now I have "Take On Me" stuck in my head and a yearning for chocolate. You guys are killing me.