Cars and Pacemakers : a warning.

[jennydog]

This is a direct copy of what I have just read in WHICH magazine dated January 2015,

" Induction hobs aren't the only thing that can potentially cause problems with pacemakers. Many top- of-the- range cars now have keyless ignition which depends on radio communication between the fob and the car, and the radio waves can adversely affect pacemakers. If you use a pacemaker always check with the car manufacturer before you buy."

It's not just top-of-the-range vehicles, my son's Ford Fiesta has keyless ignition!

[BobD Volunteer]

Strange. My wife's new Fiesta doesn't. The Focus does mind. Most modern cars now have far too many gismos such as this, stop start, hill start assist, self parking, so many computers etc to the extent that the EMF within and around them is quite chaotic I would think. When you lift the bonnet of Sam's Fiesta the battery is the biggest thing you see-- half as big again as the engine. Every where we go EMFs(Electro magnetic fields)_ are around us. Cables under the pavements, over head power lines, automatic doors, movement sensors mobile phones etc ,,we are all being bombarded by radio and electrical fields the whole time. I do wonder if this isn't a bit of a scare story as I am sure that makers of pacemakers have already thought of this.

Mind you there are people who are highly magnetic. My mother could stop a normal mechanical watch in half an hour or less.

Bob

[rosyrosie in reply to BobD]

Interesting to read. My AF is much better now I have a pacemaker but but when my AF was at its peak every watch I put on stopped but would start again when left off for some time. I mentioned to my specialist who said he had never heard of that before. I can wear a watch now and it is fine but tend to not bother unless I need to as got used to just checking time on my phone instead.

[Offcut in reply to BobD]

I can not wear Normal mechanical watches I can put an extra 20 minutes an hour on them. but if I take it off will keep perfect time.

[Finvola]

Very interesting, jennydog - something I'd never thought of. We bought a Nissan Terrano because it isn't packed with blasted computer-controlled innards to go wrong - just a good, solid diesel engine which has been running for years. But . . . it has keyless ignition.

[jennydog in reply to Finvola]

Hi Finvola. I was shocked when I read it. If my AF returns with a vengeance then a 2nd ablation is not a possibility and I will have to have a pacemaker. I could not remember any reference to this on our forum so I decided to post the details. If it is a problem then we all need to be aware of it.

Very best wishes.

[Finvola in reply to jennydog]

Hi jennydog - I asked my husband about this (retired electronics lecturer) and he thought that the signal from the fob would be too weak and that the PM would be adequately screened but I researched Nissan and found the following story regarding a Nissan Micra:

smart-heart-living.com/pace...

I suspect that the system is a 'smart key' rather than just a plain fob.

Don't know what to think but worth being aware of it as a potential problem.

[jennydog]

Finvola, thank you for that very interesting link. It's certainly something to think about!