Magnets generally do not have a significant effect on the hearts of normal, healthy people, but magnetic fields may cause adverse effects such as displacement, fever, loss of function, and arrhythmias in people with implanted cardiac stents, pacemakers, and replaced metal heart valves.
For patients with pacemakers implanted with non-antimagnetic magnetic fields, the more serious effect is magnetic resonance examination, which is a kind of strong magnetic field interference, static magnetic field has a direct effect on the pacemaker function, which can lead to serious arrhythmia, and radiofrequency magnetic field can cause the wire to generate electric current, which is converted to heat after reaching the myocardial tissues, inducing arrhythmia, and in serious cases, the failure of pacing or perforation of the heart.
Weak magnetic fields, such as electromagnetic stoves and radios, may also interfere with pacemakers, resulting in changes in pacing frequency and poor working conditions. In addition, metal implants such as cardiac stents and metal heart valves may be displaced, heat up, or lose their function in the early stages of implantation under the action of strong magnetic fields.
If a patient has a metallic implant in the heart, it is recommended to ask the doctor’s advice on exposure to decide whether or not the patient can be exposed to magnetic fields.