OMG--Is Bush wearing a HOLTER monitor????

[Gloria]

This is written for a pediatric use, but I checked a discussion for adults and the material is the same....But this discussion mentions the monitor being worn on the waist or THE SHOULDER!!!!!

Bush has brachyardia, remember? It's an arryhthmia....IS HE BEING MONITORED CONTINUOUSLY??? Is that why they skipped the physical?????


www.americanheart.org/ presenter.jhtml?identifier=3005149

What are Holter, Event and Transtelephonic Monitors?

What is it?
The Holter monitor, invented by Dr. Norman Holter, is a device that records heart rate and heartbeats (rhythm) continuously during a 24-hour period.

Event monitors are used to record heart rate and rhythms for brief periods. They work only when a person turns on the device.

A transtelephonic monitor is similar to an event monitor, but it sends the EKG to a recorder by telephone.

Why is it done?
The major purpose of a Holter monitor is to record your child’s heart rate and rhythm during various activities over a long period. If a problem or symptom occurs, you or your child can write the time of the symptom in an accompanying diary. This lets your pediatric cardiologist compare the symptom with the heart rate and rhythm during that specific time. The Holter monitor is most helpful when symptoms are frequent. It’s also helpful for showing changes in heart rate or rhythm that your child may not notice.

The major purpose of an event or transtelephonic monitor is to record your child’s heart rate and rhythm during a symptom (“event”). Your doctor may recommend an event monitor when symptoms are infrequent – for example, once per week or less.

How is it done?
The Holter monitor is a small tape recorder connected by wires to several patches called electrodes. These patches are put on your child’s chest. The tape recorder is in a small protective box that fits into a case with straps so it can be easily carried on the shoulder or waist. The electrical activity of the heartbeats travels through the electrodes and wires and is continuously recorded on tape, usually for a 24-hour period. You or your child will keep a record of activities in a diary. After the recording is done, the monitor and electrodes are removed. Then the tape recording is reviewed by a technician using a computer, and the heart rate and rhythm are transferred to paper. Your pediatric cardiologist will then review the recorded heart rate and rhythm and compare them with the diary.

Event monitors are small, portable devices carried in a purse or attached to a belt or shoulder strap like a portable tape player. When symptoms are infrequent, the monitors may be carried for several days or a few weeks. Most monitors are designed to record the heart rate and rhythm only when a button or switch is turned on. For example, when a symptom occurs, your child or another person would turn on the event recorder. The event recorder would then record the heart rate. Later, at a convenient time, the recorded heart rate and rhythm can be sent by telephone to a receiver in the hospital or clinic. Then your pediatric cardiologist can determine if there was a problem when the symptom occurred.

MORE

Original DU thread which has the background posts on this....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1051867

[cheezus]

1. wouldn't they take it off for 90 min?

[Gloria]

5. I don't know---but if they're worried about, I think not....they don't

turn off pacemakers, do they? I mean, if it has to be monitored al the time, would they take it off when he's under the stress of a debate???

[cheezus]

7. right, but it's not like this device keeps him alive

like a pacemaker does. if it's just monitoring, take it off for the 90 min. have a physician on hand in case (god forbid) the worst happens.

[yellowcanine]

13. Read the article - they are worn for a 24 hr period - not all of the time.

They would not choose to have him wear it during a high-stakes public event like that - they would try to choose a "typical day". There is no need to wear the monitor all of the time - the cardiologist uses it for diagnostic purposes - the thinking is that any major problem with heart rhythm is going to show up over a 24 hour period. The comparison to a pacemaker is way off. A pacemaker might be prescribed as a result of imformation obtained by a Holter monitor, but that is about the only way there is any connection. Besides, the "bulge" on Bush's back looked nothing like a Holter monitor. They are rectangular boxes about the size of a large pager and are usually clipped to the belt when the patient is active. The electrodes, if I remember correctly, are attached to the chest, not the back.

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Heh, I thought you wrote "HOLLER monitor."

Kinda like those anti-barking devices for dogs.

[disgruntled_goat]

3. i thought maybe you meant 'halter' monitor

as in 'halter top' (sp?)

and my morbid curiosity made me look.

turns out i saw a pretty good article.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. That's what I thought after another DU'ers post

but there's a little box that goes with it as well that wears to the side that would have been visible

[TexasBushwhacker]

6. They're usually worn in front

Like your description says, the electrodes are attached to the chest. I've known people that had to wear them and they wore them in front.

[Not Me]

8. That would be too obvious

They thought they could hide it in back.

[glitch]

10. It would've worked if he'd just've stood up straight.

He couldn't even be trusted to do that.

[Lexingtonian]

9. pretty good guess

I'm convinced that he's an epileptic with more and more of the 'tarditive kinesia' symptoms (slurred speech, slouchy walk, etc) that come with taking antipsychotics and anticonvulsants for long periods of time. Maybe arrhythmias are part of the spectrum, maybe it's some kind of transmitter that shows his staff when he's getting nontrivial seizures, e.g. might fall down in a dangerous way on stage.

Those 90 minute debates have him overmedicated (in some fashion) the first 30 minutes, doing best the second 30 minutes, and obviously deteriorating during the last 30.

[CAcyclist]

11. No, not a Holter monitor

(Note:I am not a real doctor)

Holter monitors are used to diagnose conditions that cause infrequent arrhythmias. Once the condition is diagnosed, a Holter monitor is of no further use.

It cannot be used to predict or prevent a cardiac arrhythmia.

If Bush had an arrhythmia, we would know about it - after all, Cheney was well known to have a heart condition and even had surgery.

Also , a Holter monitor is a comparatively large instrument and could not be concealed under a suit.

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. Maybe that is why he had his MD in the wings?

I believe the candidates were allowed to pick one or two people to be off to the side of the stage and W picked his MD.

It would also explain why he travels with an ambulance just like Cheney does.

[Gloria]

14. Here's a sample..a Trillium...just one unit about 3X6 inches...looks like

a close size match...there are lots of different brands
I bet that's what he is wearing, one of these!! Nothing hanging from the side!!!! Just one unit!!!!

http://www.deltadecisions.com/holterkit.php



Exact specs:

http://www.deltadecisions.com/holterkit.php

Product Specifications:

Size: 3.5 x 6.4 x .95 inches
Weight: less than 11 ounces (including batteries)
Power: 3 AA batteries
Frequency response: .05 Hz to 100 Hz
Gain: 5 or 10 mm/mv
Defibrillation protected - Power glitch recovery
Meets the ANSI/AAMI standard for ambulatory electrocardiographs (EC38) - 2 year warranty

Non-volatile, solid state, 32 Mbyte removable flash card memory
24-hour, 2 or 3 channel recording (user selectable)
48-hour recording (option)
256 samples per second - 12-bit sampling
Full recovery of data with no distortion due to compression/decompression
Pacemaker spike detection circuit

Non-volatile real time clock module
Patient event beeper - Patient ID entry
LED signal quality indicators for each channel during patient hook-up

Highly accurate automatic analysis and report generation
Connects directly to any PCL-5 compatible printer
Download the data to a PC through a direct serial/parallel connection
(8 minutes), or
Download the data to a PC through a PC Card drive (30 seconds)

[Logansquare]

15. I've worn a Holter, and they are pretty obvious

much more so than Bush's "bulge."

[riverwalker]

16. No

a Holter monitor is just an event recorder to diagnose an arrhythmia. You wear it for a couple days and the doctor looks at the recordings for anything weird. There is no way he was wearing one during the debate, it would make no sense. It can't treat anything, doesn't pace or defibrillate (like Cheney's)just records.

[sofa king]

17. I think it's a correction device.

[FlaGranny]

18. A Holter monitor is the size of a small portable

tape recorder and is usually worn around the waist. When they are worn on the shoulder, it is from a shoulder strap and the monitor would hang from the strap, something like a shoulder holster. Never heard of one being worn on the back, the strap would be around his neck, if that were the case, and make it impossible for him to lean his back against a seat or lie down on his back.

[shockingelk]

19. It's a bio pod

here is the proof: http://fearofclowns.com/2004/10/bush-bio-pod.html

[Gloria]

20. But note the description of Transtelephonic monitors....is this why

cell phones have gone dead?? Haven't reporters, etc. said that their phones have been shut down when they are around Bush????? Have they been blocking phone frequencies?

"A transtelephonic monitor is similar to an event monitor, but it sends the EKG to a recorder by telephone....." from the article in the original post...


This sample is less than an inch thick, and 3.5 X 6.5 inches big. That's not large...it's rectangular, just like what's on Bush's back.......This is 1 inch smaller in both directions than my portable Grundig radio and 1/2 inch thinner.

And this is just one brand...there are many others....

[progressivebydesign]

21. No.. they'd tape it to the front...

And.. if it's for monitoring purposes, they would have put it on at a different time.

[DancingBear]

22. I've worn a Holter monitor also

It is a small device, about the size of an index card, maybe 1" thick. It contains within it a recording device, used to record heart rhythms over a 24-hour period. This usually sits in a pouch, which attaches to the body (usually around the waist) via a velcro strap.

Eight (I think) electrodes are attached on the upper chest/lower ribcage, and there is a MOUNTAIN of wires to them, all connecting to the monitor and usually ganged together in groups with some some of fastening device (could be a simple as rubber bands).

It is a pretty cumbersome device - I would have to say that this is NOT what Idiot Boy was wearing.

[Gloria]

23. The American Heart org. says models are also strapped at the

shoulder area...obviously, there are different models...and the number of electrodes can vary, too.