Do you a get a flu shot every year?
You should.
Not only is it the best way to avoid the flu, other than locking yourself in your bedroom for like six months, but it turns out it might have another benefit as well. It might help you curb heart disease!
It’s no small reduction either — two separate studies confirmed that the vaccine might reduce the risk by up to 50%! One of the studies included 3,227 participants, half of whom had confirmed heart disease. Half of the participants received the influenza vaccine and half were inoculated with a placebo.
Just one year later, those who got the shot had that 50% reduction in risk of major cardiac events — and a 40% reduced risk of heart related death!
Here’s what one of the researchers said:
“These findings support current guideline recommendations that patients with heart disease or risk factors for heart disease should get an annual flu shot, with now an additional potential benefit. If reproducible, these findings suggest an annual flu vaccine with minimal risk may have a dramatic ability to reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease. Hopefully this is one additional reason to get your flu shot this year.”
They’re not sure why it protects the heart, but it’s possible that the shots prevent bouts of flu that promote inflammation and immune responses that could aggravate unstable plaques in the heart.
More studies are needed to irrefutably confirm this, but hey, you might as well be getting a flu shot anyway!
[Image via AP Images.]