Re: Flu vaccine helps cut heart attacks

i found this on sci.med.cardiology
a rare piece of useful information from that
newsgroup

"listener" <listener@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:Xns987DC8D3B7248some1outthere@198.186.190.224 ...
> CHICAGO (Reuters) - Getting a flu shot can
reduce the incidence of death,
> heart attack or unplanned procedures to open
clogged heart arteries in
> patients with coronary artery disease, Polish
researchers said on
> Wednesday.
>
> The study adds to a growing body of evidence
suggesting that people with
> heart trouble should get a flu shot every year.
>
> "We know that people die of flu who have
underlying cardiopulmonary
> disease. It's only logical that if you are able
to prevent flu with
> vaccine, you can prevent these deaths," said Dr.
Arnold Monto, professor
> of epidemiology at the University of Michigan.
>
> "Flu puts these people over the edge," said
Monto, who serves on the
> World Health Organization's Influenza Pandemic
task force.
>
> The study, which was conducted in Poland and
presented at the
> American Heart Association meeting in Chicago,
involved 658 patients with
> coronary artery disease. Of those, 325 received
an active flu vaccine and
> 333 received a placebo.
>
> After 296 days, patients who did not receive the
vaccine were nearly
> twice as likely to have a heart attack, undergo
an unplanned angioplasty
> to open blocked arteries or die from
heart-related causes.
>
> Monto said the study was significant because it
compared groups who
> received the vaccine and groups who did not.
>
> He said such a trial would be considered
unethical in the United States
> because of U.S. guidelines recommending that
heart patients get flu
> shots.
>
> Flu is responsible for 36,000 deaths and 225,000
hospitalizations in the
> United States each year, yet only one in three
adults with heart disease
> got flu shots last year, according to the
American College of Cardiology.
>
> "The study reinforces the principle that
patients who have underlying
> cardiac disease -- particularly coronary artery
disease -- are somewhat
> protected by having the influenza vaccine," said
Dr. Leroy Rabbani, a
> cardiologist at Columbia University Medical
Center in New York,
>
> Rabbani said other studies have shown a link
between inflammation and
> heart attacks. "Anything that can decrease the
opportunity for infection
> such as flu vaccine will be beneficial," he
said.
>
> The American Heart Association and the American
College of Cardiology in
> September issued a scientific advisory asking
heart doctors to give flu
> shots to their patients.
>
> Coronary artery disease occurs when the arteries
that supply blood to the
> heart muscle become hardened and narrowed. It is
the most common type of
> heart disease and the leading cause of death in
the United States in both
> men and women.
>