Headphones can interfere with heart devices

NEW ORLEANS—Have a pacemaker or an implanted defibrillator? Don’t keep your iPod earbuds in your shirt pocket or draped around your neck – even when they’re disconnected. A study finds that some headphones can interfere with heart devices if held very close to them.
They might even prevent a defibrillator from delivering a lifesaving shock, say doctors who tested them.
“Headphones contain magnets, and some of these magnets are powerful,” said the study’s leader, Dr. William Maisel, a cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and a heart device consultant to the federal Food and Drug Administration.
“I certainly don’t think people should overreact to this information,” but it’s smart to keep small electronics at least a few inches from implanted medical devices, and not let someone wearing headphones lean against your chest if you have one, he said.
Maisel’s research was presented Sunday at an American Heart Association conference.
Nearly 2 million people worldwide have pacemakers, defibrillators or other devices to help regulate heartbeats.