OK. I admit it. I have not been diligent in obtaining my flu vaccine every year. My logic is impeccably bad- I haven’t had the flu, so…
Well, that will no longer be one of my excuses. Because, now there’s another big reason to get your flu vaccination. Your heart health!
Dr. Jacob Udell (University of Toronto), along with Drs. Farkouh, Bhatt, and Cannon, presented their results at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress. (The abstract can be found in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology). Their study included 3227 patients, with half of them having confirmed heart disease. For the study, half the patients were inoculated with the flu vaccine; the other half received a placebo.
Those patients who received the flu vaccine were found to suffer 50% fewer major cardiac events and 40% fewer cardiac related deaths, than those who received the placebo. That’s pretty substantial.
This study was done because physicians had inklings that suffering from the flu exacerbated cardiac patients. As a matter of fact, those patients who have implantable defibrillators are known to require more shocks during flu season. Which is why Dr. R Kumareswaran (Sunnybrook Health Science Center, Toronto), along with Drs. de Souza, Khurana, Crystal, and Singh (same conference and journal) , examined if flu vaccines would reduce this reliance, as well.
Of their patients, some 229 older patients completed the surveys, which revealed if they received the flu vaccine or not. 78% had received the flu vaccine, and most of these patients were older (70 y of age v, 64.8 y who did not get vaccinated) . 17% of the total cohort required ICD (implantable cardiac defibrillator) therapeutic intervention, with 13.5% of those who did not receive the vaccine needing interventions, compared to the lower level of 10.6% who did get inoculated.
Given both of these studies, it’s not clear that the flu vaccine protects the heart, per se. But given that the inflammation that is associated with bouts of the flu is reduced, this means that there is a lower chance for plaques to rupture or blood clots to form, as a result of the body’s immune response.
There’s still time- get your flu shot now!
Good information. I only had the flu shot once and I was so sick that winter that in my heart it is hard to commit to it again. In my head I know that the shot is not what caused me to be sick all winter but I still can’t make myself go get another flu shot.
shawn recently posted..The Good and Bad of Clickbank
Actually, Shawn, you could have developed a reaction to the flu shot- or you could have been coming down with something that this helped flare out. It’s worth checking into…
I did not know that a flu shot could help prevent heart disease. I used to get a flu shot every year when I was working in public schools. I have not gotten one for the past several years….I think I will get on this week!
Janette Fuller recently posted..Book Review: You Can Write A Short Story! by Geoff Hoff
Me, too, Janette. It’s on for tomorrow AM.
We don’t have the “compulsory” flu shot this end. Or maybe I am not aware (yikes!).
But yes, when (and if) we go for your annual check up, we are asked about the shots we got and what we do need to get done.
Hajra recently posted..Inspiration, Laziness, Secrets
We don’t have compulsory flu shots, either (although, I have heard that some employers are going in that direction), Hajra.
I get mine tomorrow!
Well they say that having flu vaccine is very good to our health because it can help our body to become much stronger and away from bacterias and micro organism.
TracyAnn0312 recently posted..הרב לייטמן
TracyAnn:
The flu vaccine doesn’t really do anything for bacterial infections- but it certainly works against the flu virus. And, in so doing, our hearts are protected against the effect of the flu, which makes them safer.
Thanks for the visit.
Oh! Now I know, thanks for the further explanations you have shared. It is really good to know more things about Flu vaccine.
TracyAnn0312 recently posted..רב לייטמן
Glad you were more fully informed after reading the blog, TracyAnn.
Thanks for the visit.