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Modern Family star Julie Bowen opened up about her heart condition that required her to have a pacemaker. The TV star made an appearance in an episode of Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, where she revealed her rare heart condition.
According to Bowen, she had "sick sinus syndrome, Hypervagotonia," which required her to get a pacemaker when she was 29 years old. According to the Mayo Clinic, it's a type of disorder that affects the heart rhythm or its natural pacemaker, which controls the heartbeat. Her heart rate can go really low, so she got a pacemaker that will alert her if it goes anywhere below 45 beats per minute.
The Modern Family actress said that it was her sister, a medical student at the time who "always carried around a stethoscope," who told her that she needed to go and see a cardiologist. After her sister reportedly continued to spur her into having a specialist look into her condition, despite her telling her sister that she was "fine," she said:
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"I shot the pilot of Ed and immediately had to go get a pacemaker afterwards."
Julie Bowen told Rosenbaum on the podcast that she had the batteries of her pacemaker replaced three times. In between those times, she admitted that she forgets about it all the time.
"My life is over... I'm gonna die"— Julie Bowen on getting a pacemaker after being diagnosed with a rare heart condition
Julie Bowen recalled that she was 29 the time when she got the pacemaker and thought that her life would be over. She admitted that she didn't know what she thought it was at her age, but there were a couple of persistent thoughts on her mind at the time.
She told Micahel Rosenbaum in the Inside of You podcast on July 1:
"I was like, 'Oh my God. My life is over. This is so weird. I'm gonna die.'"
Rosenbaum responded that she was lucky not to have died before she got the pacemaker, which opened up the conversation between Bowen and her doctors about her heart condition. The actress said that she was told that she wasn't "probably" going to die because of her condition, but it could make her pass out.
She explained the feeling as similar to the kind of "lightheadedness" she would feel after holding her breath for a while. It usually happens whenever she is "relaxed, really relaxed," like when she's watching a TV show or a movie. Julie Bowen recalled a conversation that made her decide it was time to get the pacemaker, saying:
"They said, 'You're gonna be driving a car, and you're gonna pass out, and you're gonna kill somebody.' And I was like, 'Oh, well, then give me the Godd*mn pacemaker.'"
While being diagnosed with sick sinus syndrome and getting a pacemaker made Julie Bowen think that her life was over, it didn't slow down her career. Since starring in Ed from 2000 to 2004, she has worked on numerous TV shows and movies.
Bowen was a recurring cast member in Lost before starring in two seasons of the legal drama Boston Legal. She's also in Horrible Bosses and Modern Family.
