How hair dryers and hand drills can switch off your pacemaker
THOUSANDS of people fitted with pacemakers could be at risk from household devices such as hair dryers, electric razors and hand drills, a study suggests.
The electromagnetic fields generated by everyday appliances are sufficient to interfere with the ability of pacemakers to regulate the heart, researchers found.
Hundreds of thousands in the UK rely on a pacemaker to keep their heart beating, with 39 000 having one of the devices implanted every year.
The gadgets work by sending electrical pulses to the heart, ensuring it pumps blood around the body with a regular rhythm.
All people with pacemakers are advised to stay away from strong electromagnetic fields, such as those produced by induction cookers, and are advised not to linger near airport X-ray machines.
But the latest research, published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation, suggests a far greater variety of implements could interfere with the devices in close proximity. Researchers at Aachen University Hospital in Germany found that hairdryers, electric razors and lawnmowers generated magnetic fields strong enough to interfere with a pacemaker.
Cardiologist Dr Andreas Napp, who led the research, stressed that for each device the field peters out within 30cm, so most tools will be safe if used carefully.
But he added: “The key is the distance. Twice a month or so I see a patient whose pacemaker has been affected by a household appliance. Often this is when someone uses a hand drill, and pushes their chest against it to force it against the wall.
“That brings it very close to the pacemaker and it can interfere with the signal. If they keep it at forearm’s length they will be fine.”
He added: “Electromagnetic interference with pacemakers can result in bradycardia, or a slow heart rate.
“The risk of interference depends on many different factors, such as the settings of the implant or strength of the field source.” Dr Napp said that on occasion patients had passed out when their pacemakers stopped working.
His team tested 119 patients, exposing them to increasing electromagnetic fields until a failure in the pacemaker’s sensing mechanism was seen.