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Health News Results - 26
Experimental Pacemaker Can Recharge Its Own Battery
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
- November 6, 2023
- Full Page
It's a pacemaker that's a bit like the Energizer bunny -- it will keep ticking and ticking and ticking.
An experimental pacemaker is able to partially recharge its own battery by using heartbeats to generate fresh electrical energy, researchers report.
The device c...
Stress, Anxiety Plague Many Who Get Implanted Heart Devices
- Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
- June 19, 2023
- Full Page
New research finds that many of those who have received an implanted cardiac device to extend their life also have mood disorders, including anxiety, depression and PTSD.
“Implantable cardioverter defibrillators [ICDs] are effective at extending patients' lives, but w...
Electric Car Chargers Safe for Folks With Heart Devices: Study
- Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
- April 17, 2023
- Full Page
Cars are going electric at record speed, but are the high-powered charging devices the cars need safe for people who have implanted heart devices?
Long Used in Adults, Wireless Pacemakers Might Soon Be an Option for Kids
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
- April 11, 2023
- Full Page
Wireless pacemakers could be a safe and effective short-term option for children with slow heartbeats, a new study suggests.
Children with a heartbeat that's too slow — a condition called bradycardia — need a pacemaker to keep their hearts beating normally.
Res...
Could Your Smartwatch Interfere With Your Pacemaker?
- Denise Mann HealthDay Reporter
- February 22, 2023
- Full Page
If you're one of the millions of people with a pacemaker or an implantable defibrillator to help control abnormal heart rhythms, certain health-tracking devices may do more harm than good.
Smartwatches, rings or scales that emit electrical currents can interfere wit...
Irregular Heartbeat: What Is It and How Do You Treat It?
- Melissa Renae RDN HealthDay Reporter
- February 17, 2023
- Full Page
Many things can make your heart skip a beat — the words to a song, a case of the nerves or a near car accident — but these temporary palpitations aren't usually cause for concern.
But much more serious, and sometimes deadly, things can throw off the heart's rhythm, ...
Few People Get Infected Heart Devices Removed, Despite Benefit
- By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
- April 8, 2022
- Full Page
When implanted heart devices get infected, doctors recommend surgery to remove them, but many patients ignore that advice, a new study reveals.
High-Tech Devices May Interfere With Your Implanted Defibrillator
- March 1, 2022
- Full Page
Some portable tech devices equipped with powerful magnets can interfere with your heart implant's ability to regulate dangerous irregular heart rhythms, a new study reports.
Swiss researchers found that Apple AirPods Pro, the Microsoft Surface Pen and the Apple Penc...
Getting a Pacemaker Can Raise Odds for Opioid Abuse
- Robert Preidt
- December 1, 2021
- Full Page
People who are prescribed opioid painkillers after receiving a heart pacemaker or defibrillator may be at risk for opioid abuse -- and the higher the initial dose, the greater the risk, according to a new study.
“The significance of this study is to make other electrop...
Smart Phones, Watches Can Mess With Implanted Pacemakers
- Ernie Mundell and Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporters
- August 26, 2021
- Full Page
Do you have an implanted defibrillator or pacemaker? Try keeping your smart watch or smart phone a few inches away from them.
New research from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finds that your phone or watch could interfere with implanted heart devices.
B...
Coming Soon: An Implanted Pacemaker That Dissolves Away After Use
- Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter
- June 28, 2021
- Full Page
Researchers are reporting early success with a temporary heart pacemaker that simply dissolves when it's no longer needed.
So far the work has been limited to animals and human heart tissue studied in the lab. But experts said the early findings are "exciting" and could ...
Elections Can Be Tough on Americans' Hearts
- Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter
- May 21, 2021
- Full Page
A U.S. presidential election can be hard on your heart.
That's the takeaway from two new studies that look back on the 2016 race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
For one, researchers investigated heart rhythm disorders in more than 2,4...
Magnets in Cellphones, Smartwatches Might Affect Pacemakers, FDA Warns
- Steven Reinberg
- May 14, 2021
- Full Page
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning that strong magnets in some cellphones and smartwatches can interfere with pacemakers and other implanted medical devices.
Studies have shown that these high-strength magnets may cause some implants to switch to "magnet mo...
'Heart-in-a-Box' Can Be Lifesaving, Matching Up Distant Donors With Patients
- Sarah Collins HealthDay Reporter
- April 8, 2021
- Full Page
A few days after his 74th birthday, Don Stivers received his dream gift -- a new heart.
"I was born with a very lousy heart," he explained. "Growing up, I decided I was going to overcome it and go to the Olympics and be a strong boy. And so everything I did was against ...
Music Could Be a Post-Op Panacea, Study Finds
- Ernie Mundell and Cara Murez HealthDay Reporters
- January 29, 2021
- Full Page
Heart surgery can be stressful, but researchers may have found a way to reduce patients' anxiety and postoperative pain -- without any extra side effects.
A team from the Netherlands found that the simple act of listening to music around the time of surgery may help pati...
MRIs Might Be Safe for Patients With Implanted Heart Devices
- Amy Norton
- October 26, 2020
- Full Page
For years, people with implanted heart devices have been told they can't undergo MRI scans. But a new study adds to evidence that, with certain measures in place, the procedure is safe.
The study focused on patients with older pacemakers and implantable defibrillator...
'Heat Not Burn' Cigarettes Can Still Harm the Heart
- Cara Roberts Murez
- October 22, 2020
- Full Page
"Heat-not-burn" tobacco products, created as an alternative to other types of smoking, may harm the user's heart, researchers report.
These tobacco products -- think IQOS from Philip Morris -- are billed as substitutes for e-cigarettes or traditional smokes. But a n...
Could Your E-Cig Disrupt Your Pacemaker?
- Rich Holmes
- March 16, 2020
- Full Page
The magnets in vaping devices might be able to wreak havoc on heart pacemakers and defibrillators, a new case report suggests.
By placing a Juul in his shirt pocket, a heart patient caused his implanted pacemaker and defibrillator to malfunction, his health care prov...
1 in 5 Heart Pacemaker Patients Prescribed Opioids After Surgery
- Robert Preidt
- October 21, 2019
- Full Page
Opioid painkillers are prescribed to 1 in 5 patients who get a pacemaker or other implantable heart device, a new study finds.
It included more than 16,500 U.S. adults who had heart devices implanted between 2010 and 2018.
After their procedures, opioids we...
Pacemakers, Insulin Pumps Could Be Hacking Targets: FDA
- Steven Reinberg
- October 1, 2019
- Full Page
Medical devices that can connect to the internet might be at risk for hacking, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday.
"While advanced devices can offer safer, more convenient and timely health care delivery, a medical device connected to a communicatio...
Radiation Rx Might Ease a Dangerous Irregular Heart Beat
- Steven Reinberg
- September 17, 2019
- Full Page
A new technique that uses a targeted high dose of radiation seems to prevent recurrence of a potentially deadly heartbeat for at least two years, researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report.
This irregular rhythm, called ventricular ...
Large Opioid Rx After Heart, Lung Surgery Often Leads to Misuse: Study
- Robert Preidt
- August 22, 2019
- Full Page
The more opioid painkillers that heart and lung surgery patients are prescribed, the more likely they are to become dependent on them, a new study finds.
Researchers analyzed insurance claims from more than 24,500 Medicare patients who had heart or lung surgery betwe...
Good Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar Levels Can Prevent 'Heart Block'
- Robert Preidt
- May 24, 2019
- Full Page
Keeping blood pressure and blood sugar levels under control might prevent a common heart rhythm disorder called "heart block."
That's the finding from a new study analyzing data on more than 6,000 people, aged 30 and older, in Finland.
In the study, the U...
Airport Scanners OK for People with Implanted Heart Devices: Study
- Robert Preidt
- May 8, 2019
- Full Page
It appears to be safe for people with implantable heart devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators to go through body scanners at airport security checkpoints, researchers say.
Body scanners are becoming increasingly common worldwide.
But some people are...
'Antibiotic Envelopes' Could Cut Infections After Pacemaker Implant
- Dennis Thompson
- March 18, 2019
- Full Page
Tucking a pacemaker inside an antibiotic-soaked mesh envelope before implanting it inside your body can drastically reduce your risk of a dangerous infection, a new study shows.
About 1.7 million patients receive cardiac implants like pacemakers or defibrillators eve...
Coming Soon: Battery-Free Pacemakers Powered by the Heart?
- Amy Norton
- February 20, 2019
- Full Page
Scientists say they've taken a first step toward creating a pacemaker that runs on the heart's own energy rather than batteries.
Pacemakers are electronic devices implanted to regulate your heartbeat -- usually because of a condition that slows your heart's normal ra...