Just seen Trudie Lobban on BBC 1 Breakfast show with new heart monitor.

It seems this new heart monitor operates via WiFi, can detect AF and transmit data to local hospital. Not just detect AF but can pick up all manner of cardiac things going on with the heart. Can be implanted by GP and takes about 5 minutes. Patient is unaware of whats going on until they get a phone call from hospital to come in for a consultation. Seems like a 'propajob' to me.

[Bagrat]

Sounds great. I have a friend with the old "reveal" implanted monitor but you have a hand held device to flag up events you know about and she nearly always forgets to do it!!

[ellenrosina]

Not a good idea for anyone sensitive to WiFi and mobile technology as these cause arrhythmia amongst many other symptoms. Google electrosensitivity symptoms to find out more . It is not a myth. My son suffers badly from this.

[Hidden]

G'day ellenrosina,

Thank you for posting this comment. May I ramble on a bit.

I was diagnosed with paroxysmal AF in early January 2010, aged 65. I had led a very healthy life, occasional digestive disorders from my mid 30's onwards, occasional DIY mishaps which put me into A & E every once in a while and in about 2000, the removal of my right knee cartiledge. Apart from that I've been fine, no problems until AF. So naturally I started asking myself ..... why?

I started to investigate and had to acknowledge heart palpitations and I'd had these for about 2 and half years prior to diagnosis. At the time - as I'd never had this sensation ever before - I started to analyse things. I was driving buses at the time, working full time, the palpitations always hit at about 08.00 when I was driving and that was about 45 minutes after signing on for my shift - never afterwards during the rest of my shift. The sensation was like getting a bloody great kick in the chest (imagine being kicked by a mule) in the vicinity of the heart, then, within micro seconds there would be an incredible burst of heat uniformly all over the head again lasting micro seconds, then I'd be normal but feeling a bit washed out. I made several attempts at getting to GP for an ECG but as I worked shift work to get an appointment to fit in with my working hours was very hard and so when ECG's were taken they gave a normal result.There would be no dizziness, no going hot/cold as if about to faint, no variation to vision, no headache afterwards - nothing !

It then occurred to me that during these 2 and half years I had kept my mobile phone in my drivers uniform shirt left pocket - approximately over the heart. It was a convenient place to keep it even though I couldn't use it when driving. Just a convenient place. After diagnosis I twigged this might be a cause and so removed it and it has never been put back on that part of my body.

Initially after posting my experience on the old AFA forum and having my experience generally scorned - I just wrote it off as bus drivers stress ! Fast forward 15 months after diagnosis. I then began to associate the onset of AF with food and digestive problems and I've dealt with the AF via the digestive system successfully. Still on meds, no further reviews by GP's or Consultants and no ablations etc - its probably as good as it'll ever get. I have no intention of going down this new device track I might say ! Oh ! one final thing - I believe I might have a predisposition genetically to AF, my Grandfather died from a series of strokes in 1964 (long before we knew about AF), but there is nothing conclusive about that, however his brothers grandson - who is a few years older than me - has AF and has been successfully dealt with by ablation - and now my 30 year old daughter has been diagnosed too. So genetics now comes into it and with it this concept of 'having a predisposition'. We need to not just treat unfortunate victims of AF but research and document very thoroughly initial causes and ongoing triggers to enhance our understanding of AF.

Apologies for this massive missive !

Aussie John

[Dadog]

Very interesting, Aussie John. The effects of mobile phone technology have never really been taken on board - especially five years ago. So much of it around us out in the streets and around our homes - and in your case, shirt pocket. The big providers don't want us probing too deeply into the effects of their transmissions but there has to be consideration of what harmful or detrimental effects there might be. At least a lot of young people now use their phones away from their ears (and therefore their brains). In your case, an electronic receiving and emitting gadget sitting right over another electronic gadget (your heart) is a prime situation of conflicting signals.

So yes, you're spot on, mate. We should continue strongly, to research into AF and its treatment and triggers - and in particular the effects of modern technology.

David

[Hidden]

G'day David,

Must admit I'd put all this to the back of my mind until I read ellenrosina's post. Then it all came back. After my diagnosis and very prompt treatment I went on driving buses full time for another 2 years before finally retiring and moved from Surrey to Cornwall in July 2012. Over these years I've never put my mobile phone back in any pocket other than trouser pocket because deep down I still felt there was an issue even though I didn't seem to get any hard evidence nor could I seem to get any other support. Also, over these years I've used my mobile less and less (text more than phone nowadays) and that, along with the diet I follow which seems to control things AF wise. Yes, you are right - the big service providers certainly don't want anyone examining things too closely yet it must happen sooner or later and your illustration of my phone in my shirt pocket over my heart (up to 10 hours a day 6 days a week for 2 and half years) must have had an impact ! It did !! I can just never forget the intensity of those palpitations and the accompanying heat burst over my head. Thanks for your comments.

John

[ellenrosina]

Thanks for your comments AussieJohn. Your symptoms sounds just like those of my son. He copes by living in a stone cottage in Wales with special netting covering all the windows and he sits in a protective net tent at his place of work. My son's problem with electrosensitivity means that we also have special netting in all our windows to reduce incoming radiation from mobile masts and neighbour's WiFi. I keep this in place now, even when he is not staying with us, and it seems to reduce the incidence of palpitations for me. It is estimated that up to 5% of the population are electrosensitive to some degree so I wonder what percentage of the population have arrhythmia triggered by mobile phones, masts or WiFi

[Hidden in reply to ellenrosina]

Hi ellen,

Wow !

Despite my own experiences which I've described I had no idea that such measures were necessary to minimise the impact of electrosensitivity. I've been so quick to praise my diet that I'd never considered all this. I say that because I now live in a Cornish barn conversion. It was originally a Cornish farm, our courtyard was the original farmyard. We live in one of the barns and the outer walls are about 2 feet thick, made out of Cornish stone. We have Wifi in the house but there are no Mobile phone masts in the immediate area. And - I feel better now than I have for years and I've been acknowledging the diet. So I'm wondering how much I've improved my AF by simply moving house. Of course the same arguments apply to the proximity to overhead power lines, part of the national grid.

I know in Sydney when I lived there, a lot of controversy emerged from overhead power lines and links to various cancers and indeed in the suburb of Carlingford where I lived at the time many residential groups protested against Telstra erecting a mobile phone mast on land in a residential housing estate.

So using this device as a case in point - it actually could measure and report via WiFi the incidence of AF in victims when the device itself could be generating the AF in some victims. Good luck to you and your son. I find this mind blowing.

John

[Hidden]

Hello again Aussie John, Just reading your blurb and there could be a big question mark regarding the conductive electricity which for some is more evident in our bodies. In the first year of this condition (SVT) I went to an acupuncture physician to try to bring about a measure of control. The questions he asked were how far away was I from the power meter or TV antenna etc, then we discussed various metals, which I did some research on and which I found interesting since I had Majored in Sculpture many moons ago. We could find no real evidence of this though, and I thought I was perhaps going off on a tangent which might be too big for me to form any real conclusions. Since then I have moved. I was wondering about the copper bracelets they wear for the relief of arthritis/osteoporosis? not sure of my facts on this part, but you can perhaps understand why there could be some questionable connection of material technologies we use in relationship to our own bodies. I wonder if EP's have studied this or not. Keep well

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi there ultramarine,

Great to hear from you again. Actually, I tried acupuncture in the early days but it wasn't satisfactory and we covered similar ground to you. I did some studies into mobile phone technology and there has been much done but I got the feeling all the researchers were dancing round the edges. Why not - don't want to reveal too much lest it damage mobile phone, tablet or even laptop manufacturers !! Personally, I still feel this technology does contribute to a range of modern medical conditions - which even medical/scientific researchers don't yet have a grasp of and to be honest unless there is an independent study done, by say, a University without outside pressure or interference/influence then it is all going to stay as it is - an idea/ a concept !

I can't think that EP's or Cardio consultants are gonna get involved. They seem to just fix a medical condition rather than get involved in preventive medicine. Besides it is a branch of science that is far and away beyond their capability to deal with. Stay well too.

John

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Not sure this is relevant as me and electricity don't get on.

But I had a tele many years ago, a small Soni. Had it on my kitchen top to watch whilst cooking, but it had not worked for 3 years. It would simply not power up. Then I bought one of the early digital mobiles which one night I put by the dead tele. The phone rang and my tele went "ping" and burst into life at precisely the same time !

.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hello Koll,

I think there is some relevance .... my take on it is ..... if leaving your old mobile next to your defunct TV, and the act of receiving a phone call, triggered your TV into life - then just imagine what has happened to my heart (complete with electrical circuitry too), leaving my phone switched on all day in my shirt pocket over my heart, receiving calls and texts or just switched on ...... palpitations daily and then after 2 and half years ending up with AF. Can you recall the make model of mobile phone and month/year at the time ? My phone at the time was a Nokia Slide.

Of course there will be shedloads of people out there who will most likely say this is all bulls...t, and of course it isn't scientific ..... BUT ..... ??

Cheers

John

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hello again Koll, have just been thinking about my reply to you, I had not thought it through enough. Maybe the major components of the phone and the TV could shed a little light on things, along with the material used. What I was thinking about, was if this could cause some disturbance within the body, then their should be a material that protects us from too much exposure, as in the copper for diffusing conditions such as arthritis. I would like to know what that metal or chemical could be? I do know that too much radiation from x- rays is not a good thing- not sure what the tolerance is though I think its over 12 x-rays per year.

[Hidden]

I don't know if you don't get on Koll. All I know is that I either conduct or start up electricity when I put nylon fibre next to my skin it crackles a lot, as far as your own experience, sounds really funny, sounds like toys having a ball, when you are not around. In your case no human contact was in place, unless you were hovering over it. How long did the tele go for after that? I might try it.

[Hidden]

Hi John / ultramarine

The mobile was a long time ago. All I can remember is that when mobiles went digital, the first ones interfered with other electrical devices. You couldn't put my phone next to a radio or anywhere near it etc. No chance remembering what make it was I'm afraid.

I think it was when these things came out that it became illegal to have one switched on on a plane or at a fuel station etc.

.