Health

The Beat Goes On - But the iPod can stop it!

by TheArgus | May 12, 2007 at 06:47 am

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Millions of people carry the music with the beat that is near and dear to their hearts, literally right next to their hearts with the enormously popular Apple iPod.

A recent study conducted at the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Institute at Michigan State University suggests that the iPod can interfere with the beat that is nearest and dearest to us, the beat of our hearts.

The study tested the effect of the portable music devices 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.

The study did not examine any portable music devices other than iPods, which are made by Apple.

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.

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Jordan Yerman

at 09:20 on May 12th, 2007

That's the same science behind the banning of mobile phones in hospitals; I don't think that it's iPod-specific (any mp3 player/mobile phone/etc would most likely have a similar effect), but those ubiquitous devices with the white headphones are targets for tall-poppy syndrome (Build 'em up, cut 'em down)!

By the way, awesome headline.