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Study: iPods able to crash pacemakers
By Stevie Smith May 11, 2007, 15:10 GMT
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'In one test the pacemaker ceased to function completely.' Ummmm.... what, ah, happened that patient???!!!
What about cell phones?
Cool way to speed up your inheritance?
Just kidding lol
Pace makers don't keep the heart beating. They give the heart a little zap when it gets out of rythm. That's an over simplification but it's the general idea. It will be interesting to see the results of the follow up studies. The age of the people studied doesn't matter. What happens when they hug their grandchildren.
Obviously they didn't test with people, they used functioning pacemakers OUTSIDE of the body.
I hope this isnt just another apple bash cause ... any electrical device has the same effect.. from the alarm clock next to your bed ( which can cause brain tumors- maybe) to your remot control to change the channels so get off the ipod and worry about more important things like where the fork went Im missing the pie
I disagree with the title of this article. While I agree an iPod can disrupt a Pacemaker I seriously doubt that in one study, using just one iPod and one Pacemaker warrants enough merit to say **iPods** caused **Pacemakers** to malfunction. That all the public needs, the media to cause an uproar of a study that in my opinion is non conclusive.
George-
Don't give Dick that ipod!
It wasn't Just 1 Ipod and Just 1 pacemaker. REad the article more carefully. Half of the pacemakers had some kind of interference due to the ipod. Also this study wasnt done outside the patients bodies - it clearly says that patients who had an average age of 77 were tested.
Regarding the comments of 'Reply to Concerned' and 'Jay': NEVER teach someone to write that cannot read. The rest of us have to try to make sense of their inane misunderstandings. Read carefully, write seldom.
I bet Apple is thinking, 'Oh God I hope this isn't true' In the end they may have to put warning stickers on them or in the packaging.
Popular reports of studies are difficult to interpret, because they usually have the details wrong. One thing that isn't made clear is whether any testing at all determined if an iPod can interfere with a pacemaker in normal operation. This test was apparently performed with the pacemakers connected to their external programmer/monitors. In that state, maintaining an active magnetic/RF data link, pacemakers are far more vulnerable to interference. Interfering with the telemetry link is altogether different from interfering with the pacemaker itself.
The world has changed including the old saying
an apple a day keeps the doctor away
You know you'd think a pacemaker would be better shielded against EM interference. I would see this article as a bash against pacemaker manufacturers more than apple. Lots of devices create EM interference....(basically everything with electricity running through them)....thats why easily damaged things are 'shielded' against it...pretty scary.
An iPod can do this and cell phones don't do anything at all?!?!?! I guess the mobile phone industry has more money to buy off journalists, doctors, and scientists than does Apple. Wait for Apple to 'team up' with other MP3 makers to make this problem go away. Plant a seed of doubt and watch it grow.
I'm 30 and have a pacemaker and I know of several people under the age of 30 who also have them and the article makes it sound less serious than it really is. For people who are using this technology as others of 'our' age are this represents a serious health risk. Not everyone is completely dependent on their pacemaker, but I am and if I was one of those unfortunate people who had the complete pacemaker failures I would be dead. This is also related to a problem discovered with Nintendo Wii controllers and it's both comforting and disquieting that these complications are just coming to light.
Rembrandt, despite speaking so authoritatively, absolutely doesn't have a clue as to what he's talking about. In most cases, pacemakers absolutely do cause a patient's heart to beat. Some patients are more pacemaker dependent than others, depending on a number of factors. I have had implanted pacemakers for twenty two years (four of them to date), and am currently pacing 99% of the time, with no underlying rhythm, which means if the pacemaker shuts down, so do I. But life isn't so bad. At the age of 71, I can still run a mile, pacemaker and all, and do twenty minutes of Nordic Track every night.
The study is very vague. This almost sounds as just a marketing tool for microsoft and there zune. A real study would have had a board spectrum of electrical deceive which in turn would result in the same outcome for all of them. All electrically devices give off EMI and would cause the same thing, its ridiculous to say its just the ipod.
I can see Steve Jobs giving the hard sell on this unexpected feature next Macworld ...
'Revolutionary mobile phone, widescreen iPod, breakthrough communicator ... and yes, ladies and gentleman, when some oldie tells you to turn off your music ... guess what you can now do? ... Yes ...'
This is a FLAWED experiment. Try a test with any electronic device held at the same distance from a pacemaker, or any other electronic device for that matter.
This study shows that electical things have a magnetic field. Every 5 year old knows when you put two magnets together cool things happen. Thats all this kid proved. Instead of using two magnets, substitute any electronic devices.
Now we know, with certainty, two electronic devices, held in proximity, effect eachother. Get the kid a nobel prize.
Looks like the fanbois are out early on this one. Sanity, how do you know this was a flawed experiment? Have you read the reports? Or did you just dream this up on your way to the Nobel committee meeting? Obviously, NOT ALL electrical objects cause the same types of interference. Microwave ovens can disrupt pacemakers, but there's no problem with a pacemaker user making a trip to the fridge, which last time I checked was also an electrical appliance, magnetic field and all. The study wasn't conducted by a kid, but by a group of medical professionals. Now stop trying to apologize for apple before they've even been blamed of anything. If this is a potential widespread problem, it's better to learn of it BEFORE people start kicking off, and the resultant lawsuits multiply. Now, of course, there needs to be other studies to find if this is something that's endemic to ipods, or if all portable media players with hard drives cause this problem, and how severe the problem actually is.
Why just iPods? Is it a possibility that the Lithium-Ion battery generates too strong a magnetic field, or could it be the metallic casing which helps amplify the EMI in some way? It's hard to say and, though it's possible there are several other electronic devices which could interfere in the same way, we won't know until more studies are done on this kind of thing. Electronic devices are all around us, maybe it was the medical equipment coupled with the iPod that was causing the interference! Who knows, maybe pacemaker users everywhere are in danger simply by existing in this increasingly electronic world we live in! Radio waves, magnetic waves, electronic waves, alphagammasuperneucleiprotasmic waves, microwave-waving waves, brainwaves, lightwaves, surf waves, fad waves, fan waves, super waves, tusnamis...err. What was I talking about? Anyways.
BELIEVE ME I KNOW ALOT OF STUFF
This wasn't a flawed study, it was simply a narrow one. The idea was to determine if iPods can cause problems with pacemakers. The answer is yes. In some cases iPods can cause problems in some pacemakers. Now I agree that a better or more useful (and less controversal) study would be 'Do portable digital music players cause problems with pacemakers?' Another good study would be to determine the specific type of interference most likely to affect pacemakers and what common devices exhibit it.
I'd like to make a comment to all those that are stating this report is incomplete, this is how many scientific reports are done. Like many people have noted, everybody knows all electronic devices emit electromagnetic interference. Now the question is, which ones are dangerous to which people. So now we have a kid (working with a team of doctors) doing some testing on iPods and pacemakers. This is a very legitimate report which will hopefully lead to more questions and more reports. Nobody said this report was conclusive about anything other than helping prove the fact that iPods can interfere with pacemakers.
As was also noted before, iPods are different from most other electronic devices for several reasons including their hard drives (which I think produce way more EM radiation than any static state MP3 playe), metal casing, large batteries, touch sensitive scroll wheels, etc.
And yes, all you iPod fanbois should calm down. Nobody is dissing the iPod.
Managed to stop the escalator half-way up- The two blondes are still waiting to be rescued.!!!
The amount of enviro damage from theses devices made in china by slave labor is unreal. Maybe GREEN Al Gore should step down from Apples Board with this kind of track record. But then again he hasn't left the board of occidental petrol where is he is a major shareholder, maybe thats why he won't take a green pledge.
It's fun to see all the Apple and Ipod zombies come out to profess their loyalty. Come on people, the experiment is done and the results are out. Anyone can now go out and repeat it to refute or support it. Of course, Ipods are not the only devices capable of producing the results shown in the article, but they are of public interest. As a result, this experiment should be of greater public interest than say an alarm clock, microwave, or some other appliance. It's just a way to add Ipods to the list of things to watch out for if you fall under a certain catagory.
Now with that said, all you sheep can go to your Ipods like always....
It's a mistake to assume people with pacemakers don't have ipods. We may be listening to Classic Rock, but the AARP crowd has definitely discovered the ipod. When my husband was considering a defibrillator, the doctor warned us about all kinds of situations he needed to avoid. No going through metal detectors at the airport. No MRIs. We never thought about my ipod being a danger.
Not sure about pacemakers specifically, but ICD patients are usually warned about carrying electronics specifically cellphones near their heart (ie shirt breast pocket) I'm not so sure this is a new phenomenon.
Response to 'Rembrandt',
You better stick to painting, bro! FYI: a Pacemaker does keep your heart beating. The thing you're talking about, for the 'irregular Rhythm', the thing that gives a little 'zap', is called an Implantable Defibrillator. Now, here in these modern times, a pacemaker and a defibrillator can get together in the same device. So, maybe after your little zap, your heart doesn't beat for 30 seconds, then, voila' your pacemaker kicks in and keeps your heart beating. Cool, huh?
I see Steve Jobs finding a way to combine all three.
Well if a high school student tested it, then it must be so. Last year in the science fair he determined that white rats prefer Fudgesicles whereas white rats eat more peanut butter, kidding, but this shouldn't be national news unless someone qualified performs the experiments (like maybe any college graduate). Guess I don't know the kid...maybe he's a regular Doogie Howser!
Pimples sux, Beyonce rox da house, etc...
I'm 42 and have had the ICD implanted for 18months. As a bonus the Pacemaker was enabled. The ICD has fired off once, but for an unknown cause after reviewing the data captured in it. My main cause of concern is generators and magnets, expecially strong ones near my chest. I was told you can't do this...you can't do that. It was given all doom and gloom. I queried the ability to use welders, and was given a swag of literature on it to monitor. If I feel strange at any time, I simply stop and rest for a while. I don't listen to iPods, but I don't carry a mobile around with me either.
Humm... wonder if Apple already knew this? Seeing as how much flash memory they have been buying up recently, I wonder if they already knew this to be a problem.
BTW, This is totally true. A good example of how much electromagnetic energy the iPod is putting out, try placing one near a compus and watch the needle move toward the direction of the device. I have seen this first hand!!!
Humm... wonder if Apple already knew this? Seeing as how much flash memory they have been buying up recently, I wonder if they already knew this to be a problem.
BTW, This is totally true. A good example of how much electromagnetic energy the iPod is putting out, try placing one near a compus and watch the needle move toward the direction of the device. I have seen this first hand!!!
Some people don't have a clue like Rembrant I have a pacemaker and I am 100% dependant on it, without it i wouldn't be replying to this because it is the only thing that keeps my heart beating since i don't have a underlying rythm when it is tested
Rembrandt, pacemakers DO keep your heart running. And you'll never guess the reason I know this. Without mine to keep my ticker running, it wouldn't. A difibrelator gives you that little 'zap' to get the heart out of an irrythmic state.
I've been on a lithium-ion battery since 2001 thanks to Medtronics pacemaker discoveries and improvements in the field of miniature electronics.
This whole article should not have been published. NOTHING in it say anything direct or conclusive about anything except a pacemaker stopped working. At the time they CLAIM to have an ipod in the room with the pacemaker which was not installed. So one could deduce using their same iron clad logic that air causes pacemakers to stop. Or table cause pacemakers to stop. Or a number of things. There is NO PROOF and note that the article also never really comes out to claim that an actual test was organized. I agree it ought to be looked into but remember cell phones? They were supposed to be the cause of brain cancer and cars blowing up. The ladder may be true but if so how come there aren't warnings is all gas stations by now????? Folks please keep this simple formula in mind when reading anything on the web:
INFORMATION DOES NOT EQUAL KNOWLEDGE.
wth... shouldn't they have at least made better pace makers, more resistant to electromagnetic interference? i guess people who built these things didn't plan for a future full of portable, wireless devices.
I find it unfortunate that something like this is being published - not because I dismiss the potential for problems, but because the study lacked a control group or comparison group. With a potential threat this big, I am wholly amazed that no one took the time to test other electrical devices. The lack of cross-testing in this case seems to put people's lives at risk to single out a specific brand or company. If there are plans to test other products, it was then irresponsible for this study to be published before it was more thoroughly conducted.
Pace makers live in an radio/electric world and need to be prepared to deal with that real world. If IPod's signal/radio is within regulated standards (I'll bet my farm and yours that it is) then the problem is with pacemakers sheilding not with ipods signal. Thus this article is another example of stupid media propaganda. Oh my they say, IPods are to used and loved, lets make up a problem, check that a life and death problem, and stop the 'IPOD'.
The artical is crap.
In my opinion, this study is too Apple or Ipod-centric which gives it no real merit. There are thousands of household's devices out there that have the same interfering potentials, but only the Ipod was chosen, at least try all the other media or MP3 players too.
It looks like to me somebody is trying to make a buck in the name of research and love for the elderlies' hearts, using one of the most admired and beneficial devices out there of our time....Do your thing, but be more for real. Get off Apple's and its Ipods' case.
Did they check if the Pacemaker would change the beat of the music ?
Why is Apple so full of mistakes and bad facts?
Can't belive it. Miracle toy get's hammered. To whomever has said the used out of body pacemakers; read the article, don't skim it. People with pacemakers actually had their hearts stop because of the device. If you have Apple stock, GET OUT NOW!
I held my iPod up to my chest as a bonding exercise with my Medtronics pacemaker/defibrillator, and damned if the iPod didn't start screaming for mercy. :) Well what did you expect me to do stick it in my pants? (probably take care of my prostate. Ah well, so it goes.) Seriously, my pacemaker will squeal loudly at the first sign of EMI, trust me. Since I haven't had that pleasure yet, I'll continue playing my iPod until the battery wears out. Old hippies die hard.
Total Bullshit article...it should have been a study to prove how badly pacemaker manufacturers have checked their devices against EMI. EMI didn't come into existense b'cas of iPod. I wonder how someone can be even be allowed to publish something like this here...don't they care that this site will lose be taken seriously in future!
Well done! now maybe those Mac Head Drone will realise that not only Apple makes extremly low quality hardware (the Ipod is the whorst of them) but now Apple hardware is deadly! do youself a favor, put the Ipod where it belong (in the trashcan) and get your self a real music player... Ipod as always be about hype, and hype is just about the only thing can sell.
Aple is a lousy company that make lousy hardware, thank god for them, they is a lot of stupid peoples to buy it.
hmm.. nearly everything these days courses some form of cancer or disease :S
This is all bogus! What the report said was that when MONITORING a pacemaker by an external sensor, the I-pod interfered with the reception of the external monitor. This as nothing to do with the function of the pacemaker inside his body!!
If a doctor was stupid enough to try and reprogram a pacemaker while a patient was wearing a I-pod, it could effect his ability to do so. But so might the chain around his neck or the aluminum foil hat he might wear to keep UFO's from capturing his brain waves!
Modern pacemakers are designed to withstand interference from radio frequencies which are emitted from anything that has active electronic components in it. This clearly is a case of media sensationalism or ignorance of understanding the report.
Greg Chartrand
Speed up inheritance... brilliant!
But really, any strong electromagnetic spectrum signal can cause a pmaker to go off sync. If 'gramps' is listening to something from 'Of Montreal' while he's at a 7-11 zapping a hot dog in the micowave, who gets sued when he keels over while putting the mustard on it? BTW shouldn't that 17 year old be honing his skills playing GTA instead of conjuring up this speculative stuff?
g~
Seniors do listen to ipods for lectures and sermons if not music. Many grandkids live with their grand parents. There is more ipod contact with seniors than these folks realize.
Great, how will Apple blame *this one* on Microsoft?
I have a pacemaker and have been using an IPOD since December. I have not
experienced any interference as I attach it on the opposite side from the
pacemaker at least 12 inches away from the pacemaker. I agree that one should
not place IPOD's or similiar devices near the pacemaker.
That kid should be reprimanded for such an idiotic study. And the people that supported him should also be reprimanded. People with pacemakers are WARNED to stay away from electrical devices. Why are they singling out the iPod? It seems to me that there might be more to this story than just a simple medical study. The people reporting this story act as if this is some new huge revolation. This is OLD NEWS and EVERYONE KNOWS IT. The fact that FURTHER studies might occur is totally insane. That kid needs to get a life and realize stating the obvious is not smart at all.
My goodness, why all the narrow mindedness?
First some guy said the teen should be playing GTA instead of doing this! Yeah, regression instead of progress....that's some great advice.
And then people say they are singling out Ipods. Why of cource!
What if the study said that the INOi MP-180 MP3 Player caused this glitch?
Would anyone care? Would it get any attention? There you go!
The Ipod is getting 'singled out' because it chooses to by being that generic MP3 player that all people think is the only one. So many people have it and so much attention is on it, that now people say Ipod when they really mean MP3 player (even though this is not what the article is saying, of course). It's a bit like who Kleenex is said for tissue and Crayola for crayons. You get the idea, I hope.
Anyways, the article is just for informational purposes! :o)
And another thing:
This study was not done by the teenager alone! It was done in collaboration with knowledgable people.
Also, why are people saying for that guy to get a life? Hey, he may be interested in a career and he is trying. Is that not a life? If he were stating the obvious, why would this article be all over? It may very well be obvious to some, but like before...
This article is for informational purposes! :o)
Here you go Grandpa. Just put it in your pocket, and keep turning it on and off.
this is horrible news...they should outlaw them, what if some kid gets on a bus next to your grandmother??????
OK Rembrant - I survived an out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest one year ago and have a pacemaker and ICD. Pacemakers DO keep the heart beating and ICDs 'zap' the heart in case of an arrythmia. Also, everyone ASSUMEs only older people have these devices and that is SO not true. My three children bought me an IPOD for Christmas that I use weekly when I walk and I wear it on my left arm inches from my device. This type of devices keeps me and millions of other people (young and old) alive so further study on this is critical.
1. Most anyone that has a pacemaker understands that one should not press any electronic device against it.
2. The only people that read these comments are those who: a) posted the article; b) are entertained by the comments; OR c) thinks what they post is going to make a difference
3. As all things, pacemakers are improving their own technology over time. So, as new technology is discovered to cause issues, new designs are created to combat these potential threats.
and last but not least....
4) MP3 is a household name, just like iPod
I am a young patient who is completely dependent on a pacemaker. Yes, it does make my heart beat! My heart has no heart beat of its own! I just bought an I-pod and am concerned of these findings. My cell phone hasnt given me any problems, so I never thought about an I-pod interfering with my pacemaker. I am going to consult with my doctor before I use it. Thank you for the interesting research!!
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