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Andy’s Quick Hits (252): Flu Vaccination Dramatically Lowers Risk Of Alzheimer’s
I am always interested in headlines that are related to brain health. And though Alzheimer’s is a long way off for (hopefully) me, this still struck me as interesting.
For me this was also interesting because last year I decided to have my first ever flu jab. I had never really considered it being healthy and rarely sick. However, with the rise of COVID-19 and my subsequent vaccinations it raised my awareness of the importance of vaccinations. I know many people of turned the opposite direction, but I realised that not getting sick and protecting the immune system is a much better option in all circumstances.
So, what did these researchers at the University of Texas Health Care Centre find?
They found a strong correlation between having the flu vaccination and getting Alzheimer’s. This risk was 40% lower. That is a dramatic difference and of note is that this study was also large analysing data from 935’877 vaccinated and the same number of unvaccinated patients aged 65 or over. They were then tracked over a four-year period.
This effect was also stronger the more often the individual had been vaccinated so those who got themselves vaccinated consistently had an even lower risk of contracting Alzheimer’s within the study period.
