This New Smartphone Can Meddle With Pacemakers

The recent release of the new iPhone 12 rehashed an old question in medicine. The new device has a stronger built-in magnet than previous Apple devices, and cardiologists are alarmed that the device could disrupt the work of pacemakers and cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs). Are these concerns warranted? And, if so, is the new iPhone the only device that could meddle with these cardiac devices?

Why People With Pacemakers and ICDs Should Use Electronic Devices Carefully

Cardiac devices are sensitive to the magnetic fields produced by smartphones. Magnets are potentially the strongest sources of such magnetic fields, which is why all people with ICDs have been instructed to use electronic devices very carefully.

According to the American Heart Association, strong magnetic fields can disrupt the functioning of ICDs. Therefore, ICD wearers are advised against keeping cellphones (and other devices like iPods and smartwatches) in the front shirt pocket, bra, or a wraparound purse close to the device. Besides, one should avoid holding these devices against the ear on the side the ICD is located (usually, the left side). 

 

In a recent letter to the editor of the journal Heart Rhythm, a group of doctors raised concerns over the new iPhone. They tested the safety of the ICD and discovered that every time the smartphone was close to the left side of the chest, the ICD immediately became suspended and didn’t return to work while the mobile device was in proximity.

What Devices Can Suspend the Functioning of Cardiac Devices?

It isn’t just the new smartphones like the iPhone 12 that could manifest this effect. Any electronic device with a magnet could temporarily disable a pacemaker of an ICD. Earlier research from 2020 suggests that wrist fitness trackers can likewise deactivate an ICD when brought to a distance of 2.4 cm (1 in). 

 

But why are these devices sensitive to magnets, in the first place? Well, that’s just the way they are designed to work. In fact, cardiologists routinely use magnets to adjust cardiac devices, and magnets are intended to stop the work of the pacemaker and ICD during a heart examination. “The effect of a magnet on a pacemaker is usually to temporarily turn on the pacing function and to ignore the signals from the heart. 

 

The effect of a magnet on an ICD is usually to temporarily disable the ICD response to the rapid heart rhythms that is necessary to save the patient’s life,” said s Dr. Bruce L. Wilkoff to Healthline. 

 

While this is perfectly fine in a controlled medical setting, having a cardiac device stop working because you continuously keep it in your left front pocket could pose a serious risk.

How to Use Mobile Devices Safely If You Have a Pacemaker or ICD

Before we go into the specific tips, you must understand that your ICD or pacemakers do not break down when exposed to magnets in a smartphone or a fitness tracker. Removing the mobile device to a distance of 5 in (13 cm) and more will restore the work of the ICD and pacemaker instantly. 

 

So you don’t need to panic if you accidentally put your phone in your front pocket for a minute. Likewise, don't be afraid to use mobile devices or upgrade your old phone if you need to. With that said, you must be cautious with the way you wear your smartwatch, how you talk on the phone, and where you store your devices if you have a pacemaker or ICD device. 

 

Here are a few tips: 

- Keep your phone or music player in a pocket or bag that’s not directly over the pacemaker or ICD.

 - Teach yourself to use the opposite ear for phone calls. 

- Avoid wearing a wraparound bag around your chest. 

- Wear your fitness tracker or smartwatch on the opposite hand to the location of the pacemaker or ICD. - Avoid wearing an earset on the same side as the cardiac device.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Type 2 diabetes warning: A popular activity is dangerously affecting your blood sugar

Type 2 diabetes is a condition that causes the body to lose control of the amount of sugar in the blood. The body doesn’t respond to insulin properly and may not produce enough, causing blood sugar levels to become too high. If blood sugar levels aren’t controlled properly and stay too high, a number of problems can occur, including kidney failure, nerve damage, foot ulcers, heart disease and stroke.

Eating a poor diet can cause sugar levels to rise and increases a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

This is why it is often recommended that one should eat a well-balanced, healthy diet including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Exercise is also a necessity and its advised to aim for at least 150 minutes of physical excursion a week.

One surprising aspect that has been proven to raise blood sugar is being on your phone or tablet for an hour at night before sleep.

Exposure to light in the hours leading up to bedtime, in particular, the light from the electronic device or television may affect health including weight and blood sugar levels.

This is according to a study published in Physiology & Behaviour.

What the experts said

Dr Kathryn Russart a postdoctoral researcher at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Centre in Columbus said: “Even at levels you may think are harmless, light exposure at night can trigger a number of health problems.

“Light at night is an environmental endocrine disrupter. Our circadian rhythm is geared to 24-hour solar days and we use environmental cues, such as light, to keep our body clock in sync.
“Among the tasks guided by our circadian clock is to manage a regular hormonal rhythm in endocrine tissues, which seems to be thrown off by too much exposure to light at night, making it harder to fall asleep.

“The net result, not enough sleep but that’s not all. More worrisome, is a negative impact on blood glucose levels.

“For example, we see from the research that light at night can cause weight gain, without an increase in calories and it can interfere with metabolic function.

“Our circadian rhythm is also influenced by the nightly secretion of the hormone melatonin, and light at night inhibits the production of this sleep-promoting hormone.

“That, in turn, could affect the hormone leptin,3 otherwise known as the satiety hormone that signals your brain that you are full, so when this hormone messaging is thrown off, you gain weight.”

It’s recommended to have as low as five lux of light at night in order for it not to disturb the circadian rhythm.

Putting that into perspective means a TV or a cell pone held about a foot away from the face cam emit up to 40 lux of light.

Whatever the sources of light at night, it’s a potential long-term health hazard.

Dr Elena Christofides an endocrinologist in private practice in Columbus, Ohio suggests: “You may use blight light blocking glasses, widely sold online to help reuse the exposure to the blue light from electronics.

“My advice is to put the special glasses on around dinner time and keep them on as long as you are using the computer, smartphone, iPad or watching TV.”

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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6 Reasons Why You Feel Tired During the Day, But Sleepless at Night

While sleep specialists assure that having a slight spurt in alertness in the evenings is part of normal human circadian rhythms, systematically feeling tired and sleepy all day, but not before bed can be a sign that something has gone awry with your health or lifestyle. Apart from that, it just feels debilitating to be tired all day, and understanding the cause is often half of the journey to recovery. Truthfully, many factors can be causing this problem, both bad habits and health conditions, a list and description of which follows.

1. Daytime Naps

Oftentimes, people who feel tired or sleepy during the day decide to take naps to compensate for their lack of sleep, hoping that it will make them feel fresher. The truth is, however, that these daytime naps might be the very thing that disrupts your sleep schedule at night, as a late afternoon nap can disrupt your circadian rhythms and make you feel alert during the night.

This vicious cycle can rapidly snowball into a bad habit, without you ever suspecting that your daytime siesta may be the thing wreaking havoc on your sleep schedule.

2. Using Electronic Devices Before Bed

Let’s face it, most of us are guilty of this one. We like to relax after a long day by scrolling on our phones, reading the news on tablets, watching TV or doing some extra work on the laptop. What most of us don’t know is that all these electronic devices emit blue light, which, to put it simply, signals to our brains that it’s still daytime.

The brain then suppresses melatonin production, which makes us feel alert even though it’s bedtime. That’s why it’s very important to resist the urge to use devices right before bed, especially if you’re having sleep problems. Generally speaking, it’s recommended to stay away from electronics at least 2 hours before you go to bed and keep your devices out of the bedroom.

3. Psycho-physiological Insomnia

Anxiety has a sneaky feature: often, it can become dormant when you’re busy doing something, but inadvertently returns when you’re not, like when you’re lying in bed and trying to fall asleep. In fact, anxiety and racing thoughts are the cause of a special kind of sleeplessness called psychophysiological insomnia.

This condition is very dangerous because these abnormal psychological patterns can become habitual very soon, with your mind learning to associate a bed with anxious and racing thoughts. If this is the case for you, it’s important to break this habit by going to bed only once you feel like you’re falling asleep, so that you could re-learn that bed equals sleep, and not anxiety.

4. Stress and Adrenal Problems

Cortisol, also known as the stress hormone, is normally produced by the adrenal gland in response to stress, but it is also crucial for metabolism, immune health, and many other things. Normally, cortisol levels gradually drop in the evening, but when they don’t, higher-than-normal cortisol levels (induced either by stress or adrenal gland dysfunction) can block the effect of melatonin in the body, which will make it difficult for you to fall asleep at night.

Furthermore, chronic stress was even shown to increase melatonin levels during the day, which makes you feel sleepy and tired during the day, but still unable to fall asleep at night because of the high cortisol levels… You get the picture. Luckily, it is easy to measure your cortisol levels through a urine or saliva test, and a hydrocortisone treatment prescribed by your doctor can solve this problem quickly.

5. An Abnormality with your Biological Clock

High cortisol levels at nighttime is only one kind of abnormality in your circadian rhythms, but many people find that it’s natural for their body to be more awake and alert at night and be sleepy during the day. If this is the case for you, you might have something sleep specialists call a delayed sleep phase, and it’s just your body’s natural way of behaving.

While a typical human biological clock is roughly like the one showed in the image above, for people with a delayed sleep phase this clock will be the opposite, with peak activity and alertness being in the evening, and a decrease in sleep and stress hormones happening in the morning instead of the evening.

There isn’t much you can do, in this case, your best bet is to adjust your day schedule to your natural biological clock: be more active at night and sleep during the day, especially if your occupation allows it.

6. A Monotonous Job

With more and more people having sedentary lifestyles and jobs that don’t require any physical activity, it is often the case that we don’t exert our bodies enough to feel sleepy at night. If we combine it with the massive amounts of monotonous intellectual work the same people do day to day, which takes a toll on our mental health and cognitive capacity, it becomes clear why you feel so tired all day.
The solution to this problem is physical activity, and any exercise will do, as long as you do it regularly. Exercise exerts your body and energizes your mind at the same time, but keep in mind that exercising in the evening may actually interfere with your sleep, so make sure there is at least a 3-hour gap between your sports activities and going to bed.
Keep in mind that these are just some of the factors that can explain insomnia, as other types of sleeplessness may follow a different pattern. 

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

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