Over the course of the past week, there have been concerns surrounding Guthrie's health, as she was said to be on important medications. Moreover, the Pima County Sheriff's Department has stated that there was a critical issue on the night of Feb. 1, when Guthrie's pacemaker stopped syncing with her Apple Watch.
To begin our conversation, I asked Dr. Naidu to tell me about pacemakers—what they do and what kind of patients need them.
Some patients have a fast resting heart rate called tachycardia, while others may suffer from a slow resting heart rate, which is called bradycardia. A pacemaker may be a good option for patients who have bradycardia, Naidu says, adding that pacemakers are fairly common.
Can a Pacemaker Connect to an App on an Apple Watch?
If you've been following the Nancy Guthrie case, you've probably heard the Pima County Sheriff's Department say that they have evidence that Guthrie's pacemaker stopped syncing to her Apple Watch in the middle of the night on Feb. 1.
"A pacemaker essentially has a remote monitoring system, and so a patient gets a box that is taken to their home and set up, and this box is set up to transmit either through WiFi or radio frequency, or through the internet to a server that goes to the doctor's office," Naidu says. He went on to explain that the pacemaker would ping to the box at a certain time of day and send that data to the doctor's office."In this particular case, we know that typically, if you have a pacemaker, a defibrillator, or any type of implantable device that regulates heart rhythm or heart rate, every day, once a day, there'll be a transmission that is done remotely, spooling all the information from the prior 24 hours, or since the last time it was sent in," Naidu continues. He mentions that if a patient goes on vacation, for example, they wouldn't take the box with them, and the data would transmit when the patient is back in their home.
"I have not heard of that, and I certainly have thousands of patients. ... I think I would know that. ... Apple Watches can do their own evaluation of arrhythmias. And those can record, and then they can be downloaded or sent to your doctor, but not to the pacemaker as far as I'm concerned."
"You can set it up so that [your doctor gets a] notification of different arrhythmia. So even though the pacemaker cannot intervene for any type of fast arrthmia, it can detect faster arrhythmias or irregular arrhythmias, some of which are life threatening, and oftentimes happen during heart attacks," Naidu says.
"So, we have this in the hospital where patients have a cardiac arrest, they pass away, and then you have to manually turn off the pacemaker, because the pacemaker will notice that the heart's not beating, and because the heart's not beating, it'll send electrical impulses to the top and bottom to try to beat it. But it won't be able to tell that it's not actually capturing the heart and making sure the heart beats. It'll send the signals because it thinks the heart's not beating, and it won't really know whether the heart is actually beating from it," he explains.
The pacemaker does not keep the heart going, however, and these micro movements are simply from the pacemaker itself, not actually the heart beating.
What Happens if a Patient Stops Their Heart Medication Cold Turkey?
He says that medications for high blood pressure or blood thinners can be stopped cold turkey and may not have any immediate side effects to the patient. Stopping these medications, Naidu says, may increase a patient's chances of having a stroke, but it doesn't guarantee it.
"Patients with stents who have a different type of blood thinner, like Plavix, for example, these kinds of medications, if you stop them within a short time, you can definitely have a life-threatening [event]," he adds.
READ NEXT: Savannah Guthrie’s Missing Mom Case Takes Another Turn as Investigators Search ‘Septic Tank’
Hence then, the article about savannah guthrie s mom cardiologist discusses pacemakers and heart medications amid ongoing case exclusive was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Savannah Guthrie’s Mom: Cardiologist Discusses Pacemakers and Heart Medications Amid Ongoing Case (Exclusive) )
Also on site :