iPods unlikely to interfere with pacemakers

A recent study carried out by scientists at Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School found during hundreds of tests that the music players had no effect on the “intrinsic function” of pacemakers. The only slight effects occurred when the heart devices were being programmed, “but not in a way that compromised device function,” the authors said. Another study, in January by a scientist at the Food and Drug Administration, also echoed these findings. The scientist, Howard Bassen, tested four different types of iPods and found that they did not hinder pacemakers.

Seven eggs a week raises risk of death Middle-aged men who ate seven or more eggs a week had a higher risk of earlier death, U.S. researchers reported in a recent study. Men with diabetes who ate any eggs at all raised their risk of death during a 20-year period studied, according to the study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study adds to an ever-growing body of evidence, much of it contradictory, about how safe eggs are to eat. It did not examine what about the eggs might affect the risk of death. Eggs are rich in cholesterol, which in high amounts can clog arteries and raise the risk of heart attack and stroke. Experts on nutrition and heart disease said the study suggests middle-aged men, at least, should watch how many eggs they eat.

Lower thyroid activity leads to weight gain Middle-aged adults whose thyroid gland is mildly underactive, but still functioning in the normal range, may be more prone to weight gain, a new study suggests. In the current study, reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers looked at the relationship between body weight and levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in more than 2,400 middle-aged adults. In this study, men and women with relatively high, but still normal TSH levels tended to weigh more at the outset than those with lower TSH concentrations. Women with the highest TSH levels gained an average of 9.3 pounds more than women with the lowest TSH levels. The average weight gain in men with the highest TSH levels compared with those with the lowest levels was 4.2 pounds greater.
—Agencies