Study says flu shot could cut Alzheimer’s risk by 40%

According to a study by the university UTHealthin the United States, people who dose flu virus vaccine 40% lower risk of developing the flu Alzheimer’s more than four years. this Surveyed among adults aged 65 and over.

The study will be published August 2 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, but researchers have published an early version of the paper detailing some of the findings. To arrive at the conclusion, they compared the risk of disease incidence between patients who had and had not had a previous flu shot.

Researchers found that vaccination against the flu virus for several years reduced the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. The potency of protection is much greater in people who are vaccinated each year. against flu.

In consultations held four years after vaccination, only 5.1% of patients vaccinated with influenza contracted the disease, however, It was found that 8.5% of unvaccinated patients had some form of Alzheimer’s.. So the conclusion highlights the protective factor of the flu vaccine to reduce the chance of contracting the disease.

Flu and Alzheimer’s Vaccine

UTHealth graduate and research leader Dr. “Future research should evaluate whether the flu vaccine is also associated with a rate of symptom progression in patients with Alzheimer’s dementia,” said Avram S. Bukhbinder.

Scientists found a possible link between the vaccine and the disease two years ago, and have recently been able to analyze thousands of samples. In general, the research used Data from 935 thousand vaccinated patients Another 935 thousand people are unvaccinated against the flu.

In either case, the researchers say more work is needed to understand the flu vaccine’s protection against Alzheimer’s. In the United States alone, more than 6 million people suffer from the disease, and about 1 million Brazilians live with it.