How DIY could put spanner in the works of your pacemaker

FROM televisions and hairdryers to all manner of Wi-fi-enabled gadgets, we’re relying on electrical devices more and more. But concerns have been raised about the potential health impact of the electromagnetic fields (EMFs) that these devices emit, exposure to which has been linked to everything from electrical sensitivity to motor neurone disease and even cancer.

Electromagnetic fields are all around us: anything that is powered by electricity will give off low-frequency EMFs whenever a current is flowing through it.

It’s known that very strong electromagnetic radiation — such as X-rays — can damage human cells, increasing the risk of cancer in the long term.

Large European studies have suggested people who are regularly exposed to strong electromagnetic fields at work — such as pilots, welders and electrical engineers — might have a slightly increased risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of motor neurone disease.

But because the condition is relatively rare, and the numbers involved in the studies are so small, it’s still possible the effect may be caused by other factors, or even by chance.

Radiation from day-to-day devices such as phones, TVs or your hairdryer is of a lower frequency and, unlike X-rays, it is ‘non-ionising’ — meaning it doesn’t have enough energy to damage human cells.

A 2016 u.S. trial of rats and mice suggested the strongest link yet between phone radiation and certain types of cancer. However, this hasn’t been borne out so far by data from large international studies.

Based on the overall weight of evidence, Cancer Research UK says it is unlikely EMFs increase the risk of any type of cancer.

However, there is one group of people who should be concerned about EMFs: those with implanted medical devices such as pacemakers, which sense and give out electrical impulses to keep the heartbeat regular.

A recent study by scientists at Aachen university Hospital in Germany revealed that using appliances such as hand drills within 12 in of the chest could cause problems with pacemaker function.

‘The electromagnetic fields produced by these devices can interfere with the proper functioning of the implanted device, so people can feel dizzy or faint and they can get palpitations,’ says Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation.

‘In the case of an implantable defibrillator, there’s a chance that in the event of a cardiac arrest, it doesn’t work.’

PEOPLE whose pacemakers are programmed to be highly sensitive to electrical changes in the heart, or have only one electrical contact with the heart muscle (known as unipolar sensing), are more likely to be affected.

The British Heart Foundation suggests patients keep devices that produce EMFs, such as power tools, at least 6 in away from the chest as a precaution.

‘For the most part, people will be OK,’ says Dr Knapton, ‘but it’s certainly an issue to discuss with your specialist before you have one of these inserted.’

Aside from these known concerns, there is also a growing number of people who complain of a condition known as electrosensitivity. It’s often described as a kind of allergy to electricity, Wi- fi or mobile phone radiation, with symptoms from headaches, fatigue and nausea to sleep problems and skin rashes.

Some researchers controversially claim it affects up to one in 20 people, although the exact prevalence is unknown.

Although it isn’t recognised as a medical condition, electrosensitivity is debilitating, and distressing. In the most severe cases, those affected feel forced to move to remote areas in search of electrical solitude.

‘ It came into the public consciousness in the Eighties when computer screens first started to be used in the workplace,’ explains Dr James Rubin, a senior lecturer in the psychology of emerging health risks at King’s College London.

‘ Then, as mobile phones became more popular, people started to report symptoms associated with handsets and towers, and now Wi-fi is the latest thing.’

He suggests that up to a third of people who report it may actually have another underlying condition, such as an undiagnosed allergy, a psychiatric disorder or even certain types of cancer.

‘The first thing you have to do if you’re suffering these symptoms is go and talk to your doctor just to check that there’s not something actually wrong with you,’ he says.

But for the remaining twothirds, the cause lies elsewhere, he says.

In 2010, Dr Rubin and his team published a review in the journal Bioelectromagnetics that looked at the results of 46 trials involving more than 1,100 electrosensitivity sufferers, where they were exposed to either EMFs or a placebo but didn’t know which.

‘What we see time and time again in these experiments from around the world is that people definitely do feel unwell — with headaches and nausea — but those symptoms are just as likely to happen when the equipment isn’t emitting electromagnetic fields as when it is,’ he told Good Health.

‘So there’s no evidence from these experiments that it’s EMFs that are responsible.’

Dr Rubin believes the cause is likely to lie in a poorly understood but perfectly normal psychological phenomenon known as the nocebo effect.

BUT although its origins are in the mind, Rubin is keen to stress that the physical symptoms are real and debilitating.

‘The nocebo effect is when people feel unwell — despite not being exposed to anything harmful — because they believe they’ll feel poorly,’ says Dr Rubin. ‘If someone gives you a pill and they say it’s poison, you will start to feel unwell.’

All of us are susceptible to this psychological trickery.

One intriguing study published earlier this year in the Journal of Health Psychology suggested that people who feel more ‘connected’ to nature are particularly likely to suffer from electrosensitivity.

‘ If someone believes that electromagnetic fields are going to be harmful, they start monitoring themselves for any signs it’s affecting their health,’ says Dr Rubin. And such close monitoring amplifies the day-to-day aches and pains that we feel.

‘These people enter a vicious circle where they feel symptoms and believe they’re genuinely sensitive to electromagnetic fields, so the next time they know they are exposed to the stuff, they’re even more likely to get these symptoms.’

For some, finding ways to avoid specific devices that ‘trigger’ their symptoms (such as mobile phones) can be enough to set them on the road to recovery. But for others it can be more difficult.

Studies have tested the efficacy of various ‘treatments’ for electrosensitivity — from physical devices that shield people from the radiation to vitamin pills.

Evidence so far points to the ‘talking treatment’, cognitive behavioural therapy, as the most effective.

‘This condition makes life really hard for people,’ says Dr Rubin, sympathetically.

‘It makes holding down a job difficult, it affects family life and the impact on your quality of life can be pretty extreme.

‘We’ve had scores of studies demonstrating what doesn’t cause the condition, but people are still left asking: “What does?”

‘We need much more research about it.’