Preliminary but hell we should be getting a flu shot anyway. Yeah for Canadians again.
http://www.wibw.com/home/nationalnews/headlines/Flu-Shot-Linked-To-Heart-Disease-Protection-176333631.html
Getting a flu shot might protect against heart disease and deadly heart attacks.
That's what a new study presented over the weekend at the
2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Toronto found. It showed people
who got an influenza vaccine were 50 percent less likely to experience a
major cardiac event such as a heart attack, stroke or cardiac death,
compared with those who had a placebo vaccine.
"The use of the vaccine is still much too low, less than
50 percent of the general population; it's even poorly used among health
care workers," he says. "Imagine if this vaccine could also be a proven
way to prevent heart disease," study author Dr. Jacob Udell, a
cardiologist at Women's College Hospital and the University of Toronto,
said in a press release.
The study involved 3,227 patients, half of which had
established heart disease and were part of earlier studies dating back
to the 1960s. Half of participants were randomly assigned to receive the
flu shot.
Besides reducing cardiovascular risk, the study found
those who had a flu shot also were 40 percent less likely to die from
any cause compared with those who had a placebo.
Udell said the results support current recommendations for
influenza vaccines for those with a prior history of heart attack or
attacks, but now they could potentially be used for another reason
besides reducing flu risk.
Cold or flu? Symptoms help distinguish illnesses Officials urge flu vaccine for unpredictable 2012-2013 season
"In
addition to leading a heart healthy life, having an annual flu shot
could be another easy way to help prevent cardiac events," Heart and
Stroke Foundation spokesperson Dr. Beth Abramson said in a statement.
Udell told WebMD that the benefits may be explained
because they provide protection for vulnerable patients who might have
breathing difficulties while sick with the flu. These problems put them
at higher risk for stroke or heart attack. The vaccine may also
prevent
inflammation that causes arteries to rupture.
The findings are considered preliminary because they were presented at a conference and not in a peer-reviewed journal.
Dr Harindra Wijeysundera, a cardiology researcher at
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada, who co-moderated
the presentation, told Theheart.org that the treatment effect "is hard
to believe," adding more research is needed.
"As the presenter stated, it lays the foundation as a hypothesis for more study," he said.
