Swimming Pools May Pose Hazard for People With Heart Devices

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- With summer approaching, researchers caution that swimming pools may pose a risk to patients with irregular heartbeats who've received implantable defibrillators.

The issue: a danger that electrical currents linked to standard pool utilities such as lighting may "leak," causing a defibrillator to misread the status of a patient's heart.

Implanted cardioverter defibrillators continuously monitor and control a patient's heart rhythm.

"How common this is, we don't know," said Dr. John Day, second vice president of the Heart Rhythm Society, a group representing arrhythmia specialists. "It's quite possible that there's underreporting going on, because when we see patients and we see noise recorded on their device we can't account for where it's coming from."

The concern stems from a few recent incidents that have been documented. In two cases, people with defibrillators experienced device misreadings while in a private family or hotel pool, and in another two cases, people experienced unwarranted shocks from their defibrillators while in public pools.

The cases all involved younger arrhythmia patients between the ages of 8 and 23. However, the investigators said there's no reason to believe that patients of all ages would not face a similar risk if they had such devices.

"I don't want to be an alarmist, because I do think we would have heard about this sort of thing happening much more often than we have if it were a really widespread problem," said study lead author Dr. Daniel Shmorhun, a pediatric cardiologist-electrophysiologist with Children's Cardiology Associates, an affiliate of the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin.

"The nice thing about defibrillators is that they put a time-stamp on all activity," he noted. "So we were able to ask questions and delve into this after two patients came in with interference noise on their devices. And we found that both had been in pools at the time their defibrillators read the interference."

Shmorhun and co-author Dr. Arnold Fenrich are slated to present their findings at the Heart Rhythm Society meeting taking place this week in Denver. Findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Arrhythmia is a chronic condition in which the heart's electrical system has the potential to go awry -- on occasion beating too fast, too slow, or irregularly. While many instances of arrhythmia pose little harm, severe cases can be life-threatening.

For such patients, implanted defibrillators can be life-savers, continuously surveying a patient's heartbeat for signs of trouble and instantaneously correcting for problems as they arise by sending out a corrective electrical pulse.

In the new study, Shmorhun and Fenrich reviewed the cases of two female patients (one aged 8 years and one aged 23 years), in which their defibrillators registered so-called "noise reversions" directly linked to time spent in swimming pools.

In each case their devices picked up the reversion, classified it as an outside interference, reverted to a mode that actively ignored noise, and thereby prevented any accidental shock.

After the lighting system was repaired in the family pool in which the 8-year-old had swam, the girl did not experience any further defibrillator trouble, the researchers said. The older patient, however, simply decided to no longer use public pools, and has experienced no further problems.

Others were not so lucky. For example, in the past year a 21-year-old male -- a competitive college swimmer and lifeguard -- experienced not one but two shocks while swimming in a public pool. "He remembers that he had his back against the pool wall, quite close to lights in water," said Shmorhun. "And as he was moving away from the light he got shocked."

Shmorhun and Fenrich believe that low-level electrical current leaking from swimming pool wiring might be an "underappreciated cause" of unwarranted defibrillator shocks.

"Water is an attractive source for electrical activity," Shmorhun explained. "We don't think there would be an issue at all in, say, the ocean or bay. But in a pool, where you have wires coming into the water from the outside, from the house, from an aging utility system, or an improperly grounded system, there is a potential for this kind of problem. Or if a pool is not properly bonded -- meaning the pool circumference is not intact -- there could be a problem," he noted.

"I'm not sure anybody can really predict up front what pools are an issue, and there's no practical means by which to easily test pools for this," Shmorhun added. "At the same time, we don't know the overall incidence, although three cases in the Austin area in one year seems like a lot to me. But at minimum, [defibrillator] patients need to be counseled about the risk."

For his part, Heart Rhythm Society vice president Day said the finding should not deter patients from swimming.

"We want our cardiac patients to be physically active. We don't want to restrain them and we don't want to create alarm," Day said.

"But in each of these cases we had these underwater pool lights that had an alternating current pool leak that could trigger a shock," noted Day, who is also director of Heart Rhythm Services at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah. "So, I think we certainly need pool safety. And clinically this is just one more thing that should be considered as a potential source of a problem for any patient with an implantable defibrillator."

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: John Day, M.D., second vice president, Heart Rhythm Society, and director, Heart Rhythm Services at Intermountain Medical Center, Murray, Utah; Daniel Shmorhun, M.D., pediatric cardiologist-electrophysiologist, Children's Cardiology Associates (affiliated with Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas), Austin, Texas; May 8, 2013, Heart Rhythm Society meeting, Denver

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iPads Could Affect Implanted Heart Devices, Early Study Finds

Young researcher suggests that users avoid placing tablets too close to the chest

By Barbara Bronson Gray

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Sprawled out on the couch, reading the news on your iPad, you'd never think you could be putting yourself at risk. But you might be, if you happen to have an implanted heart device.

Magnetic interference could alter the settings and even deactivate the technology of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), according to a small new study -- conducted by a 14-year-old investigator and her colleagues.

The researchers found that magnets imbedded in the iPad 2 and its Smart Cover may cause electromagnetic interference that can disrupt a cardiac rhythm device.

Specialized magnets are imbedded in the heart devices to allow physicians to routinely adjust their settings. The magnets can suspend the ability of the devices to prevent sudden rapid heart rates, such as tachycardia and fibrillation.

That risk occurs when a person falls asleep with the tablet on the chest. Thirty percent of study participants had interference with their devices when the iPad 2 was placed there, the researchers found. Yet electromagnetic interference was not found when the iPad was at a normal reading distance from the chest.

The magnetic field drops off quickly with distance, explained Gianna Chien, the lead study author. And heavier people who happen to have more fat on their chest -- not just in their abdomen -- also seem to be less sensitive to the interference, she added.

The research is scheduled to be presented Thursday at the Heart Rhythm Society's annual meeting in Denver. Chien, a high school freshman, worked with her father, Dr. Walter Chien, a cardiologist with Central Valley Arrhythmia in Stockton, Calif., to coordinate patient testing.

Other devices with imbedded magnets -- such as cellphones and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines -- may also affect cardiac rhythm devices, but were not tested in this study.

Last year, research published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics suggested that the iPad 2 can interfere with the settings of magnetically programmable shunt devices in the brain when held within two inches of the technology.

That study reported on a 4-month-old girl with hydrocephalus -- abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain -- who developed a shunt malfunction. This was due to a changed setting of the magnetically programmable valve that regulates the flow of CSF out of the brain cavity, or ventricle. The mother had been using an iPad 2 while holding the infant.

An expert noted how difficult it could be to detect such a malfunction.

"The real problem is that you don't even know; there is no trigger, no light goes off [to alert you]," said Dr. Salvatore Insinga, a neurosurgeon at the Cushing Neuroscience Institute at North Shore-LIJ Health System, in New York. "With all the tech devices people are using now and all the implanted things in patients, this is more of an issue now." Insinga was not associated with either study.

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Even 'Hands-Free' Devices Unsafe While Driving: Report

They cause mental distraction that can lead to crashes, experts warn

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- Drivers who think hands-free devices for talking or texting are safer than handheld cellphones are mistaken, a new report suggests.

Instead, devices such as speech-based technologies in cars can overload drivers, taking their attention from the road and making an accident more likely, experts say.

"Hands-free is not risk-free, even though three out of four motorists believe it is," said Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. "We know now that devices like voice-detect or voice-to-email systems can create substantial mental distractions, which can lead to degradation of driving performance."

Each day in the United States, more than nine people are killed and more than 1,000 are injured in crashes that involve a distracted driver, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Brains aren't wired to multi-task, Kissinger said. "It's virtually impossible for the brain to do two complex things at the same time," he said.

Multi-tasking can lead to "inattention blindness," he said, which occurs when people are concentrating on one thing and don't see other things going on around them.

"You can literally look at something and not see it," he said. "We have seen that situation occur in the real world. We have seen people being engrossed in a cellphone conversation and run right through a red light and afterwards don't even remember seeing the red light."

Released Wednesday, the new report was prepared for AAA by researchers from the department of psychology at the University of Utah.

They tested drivers in a variety of ways with a range of distractions including listening to the radio, conversing with a passenger, talking on handheld phones and using hands-free devices. The researchers looked at reaction time, both in lab simulators and on the road, Kissinger said.

The researchers found that reaction time slows and brain function is compromised as mental workload and distractions increase. Drivers check the road less and miss cues that can result in not seeing things right in front of them, such as stop signs and pedestrians.

Behaviors like listening to the radio were a very mild mental distraction, which researchers classified as a level-one distraction, Kissinger said. Voice-activated technology, however, was very distracting at level three, which is considered the highest risk.

Another expert said inattentive driving existed before the era of electronic devices -- hands-free or otherwise.

"Distracted driving is a big problem on the road, but it has always been a big problem, even before cellphones and other electronic devices came along," said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "Even so, researchers expected to see a wave of crashes as electronic devices proliferated, but the opposite is happening on the road: Police-reported crashes have been on the decline."

View the original article here

iPads Could Affect Implanted Heart Devices, Early Study Finds

Young researcher suggests that users avoid placing tablets too close to the chest

By Barbara Bronson Gray

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Sprawled out on the couch, reading the news on your iPad, you'd never think you could be putting yourself at risk. But you might be, if you happen to have an implanted heart device.

Magnetic interference could alter the settings and even deactivate the technology of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), according to a small new study -- conducted by a 14-year-old investigator and her colleagues.

The researchers found that magnets imbedded in the iPad 2 and its Smart Cover may cause electromagnetic interference that can disrupt a cardiac rhythm device.

Specialized magnets are imbedded in the heart devices to allow physicians to routinely adjust their settings. The magnets can suspend the ability of the devices to prevent sudden rapid heart rates, such as tachycardia and fibrillation.

That risk occurs when a person falls asleep with the tablet on the chest. Thirty percent of study participants had interference with their devices when the iPad 2 was placed there, the researchers found. Yet electromagnetic interference was not found when the iPad was at a normal reading distance from the chest.

The magnetic field drops off quickly with distance, explained Gianna Chien, the lead study author. And heavier people who happen to have more fat on their chest -- not just in their abdomen -- also seem to be less sensitive to the interference, she added.

The research is scheduled to be presented Thursday at the Heart Rhythm Society's annual meeting in Denver. Chien, a high school freshman, worked with her father, Dr. Walter Chien, a cardiologist with Central Valley Arrhythmia in Stockton, Calif., to coordinate patient testing.

Other devices with imbedded magnets -- such as cellphones and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines -- may also affect cardiac rhythm devices, but were not tested in this study.

Last year, research published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics suggested that the iPad 2 can interfere with the settings of magnetically programmable shunt devices in the brain when held within two inches of the technology.

That study reported on a 4-month-old girl with hydrocephalus -- abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain -- who developed a shunt malfunction. This was due to a changed setting of the magnetically programmable valve that regulates the flow of CSF out of the brain cavity, or ventricle. The mother had been using an iPad 2 while holding the infant.

An expert noted how difficult it could be to detect such a malfunction.

"The real problem is that you don't even know; there is no trigger, no light goes off [to alert you]," said Dr. Salvatore Insinga, a neurosurgeon at the Cushing Neuroscience Institute at North Shore-LIJ Health System, in New York. "With all the tech devices people are using now and all the implanted things in patients, this is more of an issue now." Insinga was not associated with either study.

View the original article here

Ultrasonic Bedbug Devices 'Debunked' as Useless

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WebMD Health News Reviewed byLouise Chang, MD

Dec. 10, 2012 -- Despite their claims, ultrasonic devices won’t keep bedbugs at bay, a new study shows.

Bedbugs are wingless, rust-colored insects that are roughly the size of an apple seed. They don’t spread disease, but they do bite. Their bites can trigger allergic reactions, including welts and itching.

Recent media reports about bedbug epidemics have helped boost an industry filled with products and services that are designed to prevent bedbug infestations and/or get rid of these creatures if you already have them.

Now new research in the Journal of Economic Entomology shows that devices that produce sound waves do little to deter these creepy, crawly pests.

Researchers from Flagstaff, Ariz., purchased four ultrasonic devices online on Amazon.com and followed the instructions for use on their labels. During the experiment, they created an area where the device emitted sound waves, as well a silent comparison area.

There were no differences in the number of bedbugs observed in either area, suggesting that bedbugs were neither deterred by nor attracted to sound waves emitted by any of the devices.

As far back as 2001, the Federal Trade Commission sent warning letters to more than 60 manufacturers of these types of devices, saying that claims of effectiveness for these products must be supported by scientific evidence.

Ultrasonic Devices Don’t Repel Bedbugs

Many in the insect-control field are not surprised by these findings.

“Throughout the annals of pest control, ultrasonic devices have been evaluated against everything from rodents to roaches and fleas to mosquitoes,“ says Michael F. Potter, PhD. He is an entomologist at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. “Never have they proven themselves to be effective control tools. If anything, I would expect the bugs to utilize them as a [haven], since they often emit small amounts of heat, which serves as a short-range attractant to bedbugs.”

According to Potter, “the results are not surprising, but useful in the sense that they debunk another so-called secret weapon in the battle against bedbugs. As is often the case in pest control and life in general, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Susan C. Jones, PhD, agrees. She is an associate professor of entomology at Ohio State University in Columbus. “They are popular for all sorts of insects and rodents,” she says. But “the research does not support the claims that the manufacturer makes. They typically don’t work.”

Prevent Bedbug Infestations

These devices retail for $20 to $40. “I would take that money and use it to launder all clothes and put them in a sealed tote, because this would protect them more than [ultrasonic] detection,” Jones says.

Drying bedding and clothing at high temperatures for 20 minutes kills bedbugs, she says.

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