SMARTWATCHES COULD INTERFERE WITH PACEMAKERS

SMARTWATCHES and fitness trackers can interfere with implantable cardiac devices.

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According to a US study published in the journal Heart Rhythm, electronic fitness gadgets such as smartwatches, rings and scales emit electrical currents that can interfere with cardiac implantable electronic devices such as pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators and cardiac resynchronisation therapy devices, and cause them to malfunction.

Many of these fitness gadgets use bioimpedance, a sensing technology that emits a very slight, imperceptible current of electricity into the body so a sensor can determine a person's body composition, such as muscle mass or fat mass, or level of stress. Even slight electrical currents from these gadgets can interfere with the proper functioning of cardiac implantable devices.

For instance, pacemakers send small electrical impulses to the heart when it is beating too slowly. "The bioimpedance's tiny electrical current could trick the heart into thinking it is beating fast enough, preventing the pacemaker from doing its job when it is supposed to. If the pacemaker gets confused by interference, it could stop working during the duration that it is confused. If that interference is for a prolonged time, the patient could pass out or worse," said the study author.

The level of interference was greater with smartwatches than with smart rings and smart scales.

A PILL TO CURB BINGE DRINKING?

TAKING A PILL before consuming alcohol can help curb binge drinking, according to findings of a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The drug, naltrexone, is already being used to treat people with severe alcohol disorders.