We have heard plenty of stories about tasers being harmful or even deadly, but could they also be healthy and heart-friendly? Possibly, given new evidence unearthed in the case of one 28 year old man who was tased after he hid from police in lake for 40 minutes then tried to flee the ER when captured. Because of his stint in the lake and the drugs found in his system, the man's body temperature had dropped to 89 degrees and his heart fell into atrial fibrillation—a condition where the upper chambers of the heart quiver rather than beat.


After being tased, the electrodes that had been monitoring his condition were re-attached, and it was then that the doctors realized that the patient's heart had returned its normal rhythm. Apparently, this is the first time anyone has heard of a taser actually correcting an irregular heartbeat, but the role that the taser played in the patient's recovery is debatable. Many believe that it could have occurred as the result of his treatment with a beta blocker, or that it was a simple spontaneous event that occurred with impeccable timing. [WSJ]