Headphones can harm pacemakers

A study has found that some headphones can interfere with heart devices if held close to the chest.

“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 Food and Drug Administration.

Keep small electronics used by you or someone else at least a few inches from implanted medical devices, Maisel said.