I'm proud

[Gr8Scout]

I'm proud today for two reasons: One, the kid featured in this story lives in the school district I am a resident of. Two, last Tuesday, we voters increased our school millage for more high-tech programs and hardware.

What saddens me is that every school district is not as well off as mine is. How many kids this bright don't have the oppurtunity to help others life longer lives?

I don't have a pacemaker yet, but I am getting up their in age. One of the kids now in our local high school may someday end up being my doctor.

http://lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AI ... /705120330

Okemos teen makes waves with unique study of iPods
Jay Thaker's pacemaker tests create nationwide media buzz

Nicole Geary
Lansing State Journal


An Okemos High School senior is making national headlines for his research on the impact of iPods on pacemakers.

With nonstop Frank Sinatra on the playlist, Jay Thaker's scientific study showed the Apple digital music players caused interference in 35 percent of 100 patients tested at a Lansing clinic.

It was a small-scale preliminary project, but it uncovered a phenomenon no expert had yet documented.

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"There's no immediate danger to patients but it's something that needs to be watched," said the 17-year-old in a phone interview from Denver.

Thaker, 17, presented his findings Thursday at the Heart Rhythm Society's annual conference attended by some 14,000 people. One study among hundreds, his study drew more media attention than any other at the weeklong Denver event.

"I think the safest recommendation for now is to keep iPods 6 to 12 inches away," said Thaker, whose once-passing curiosity about iPods quickly turned up proof of potential problems.

Pacemakers picked up signals from the portable music players when held 2 inches from the patient's chest for five to 10 seconds. Sometimes it caused the devices to misread the patient's heart pacing, which could give doctors inaccurate information when deciding treatments.

In one case, the pacemaker actually stopped functioning for a few heartbeats.

The tests were run over six months with help from local physicians - and when Thaker wasn't in school or karate class - at the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Institute in Lansing.

The study's senior author, Dr. Krit Jongnarangsin, an assistant professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Michigan, said more, larger-scale research will be needed to validate the findings.

Questions about MP3 players had never come up with his patients, most of them older and unfamiliar with iPods, when Thaker approached him with the idea.

But some in the study group, with an average age of 77, have said they're concerned about friends and grandkids jamming to music close by.

"It may misread or oversense the signal from the iPod, which could mean they're treated unnecessarily," said Jongnarangsin, a friend of Thaker's father.

"He's a very smart 17-year-old. He'll have a bright future in medicine if he wants to pursue it."

He does, and he's already planning a second study to determine how iPods affect implantable cardioverter defibrillators, or ICDs.

First, he needs to travel home from Denver and graduate with his classmates in a few weeks.

High school Principal John Lanzetta said the Okemos schools community is celebrating another extracurricular accomplishment beyond any one class assignment.

They've watched Thaker, the son of R.K., an electrophysiologist and Niti, a rheumatologist, make TV, radio and Web site news across the country.

"We've been so proud ... when students engage in internships and research," Lanzetta said. "One doesn't normally expect medical breakthroughs from a 17-year-old high school student."