People who have received at least one flu vaccine are 40% less likely to develop flu illness Alzheimer’s during the first four years of its administration.
It is the conclusion of a study of the University of Houston.
The research, led by Avram S. Bukhbinder y Paul E. Schulzhas compared the risk of incidence of this neurological disease between patients with and without prior vaccination against the influenza virus. influenzacommonly known as the flu.
The participants, residents of the United States, were 65 years or older.
This study was carried out two years after researchers found ““A possible link” between the flu vaccine and a lower risk of Alzheimer’s.
In Spainaccording to data from the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN), more than 800,000 people are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Lower risk of Alzheimer’s if vaccinated annually
It is the main cause of dementia and “the disease that causes the greatest disability in older people” in our country. The prevalence of this dementia increases “exponentially” after the age of 65.
As Bukhbinder, a doctor at the Hospital General de Massachusetts (USA)
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“The strength of this protective effect increased with the number of years that a person received an annual flu vaccine.”
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“In other words, the rate of developing Alzheimer’s was lowest among those who consistently received the flu vaccine every year”, .
An investigation with 2 million patients
Throughout the four years in which this study has been carried out, it has been discovered that 5.1% of patients who were inoculated against the flu (an infection that causes more than 170,000 hospitalizations in that country) had developed Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s affects more than six million people in USA. As this study emphasizes, the number of patients continues to increase due to the aging of the population.
As opposed, 8.5% of patients those who had not been administered no dosewere diagnosed with Alzheimer’s during the follow-up of this investigation.
Nearly two million Americans have participated in the world-first research.
Thus, specialists emphasize the “strong protective effect of the flu vaccinealso against the disease Alzheimer’s”.
And as he points out Paul E. Schulz.
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“Given that there is evidence that Several vaccines can protect against Alzheimer’s disease“We think it is not a specific effect of the flu vaccine.”
Other studies, as the authors emphasize, “have revealed a decreased risk of dementia associated with prior exposure to other vaccines such as the one administered against tetanus, poliomyelitis and the herpes”.
Alzheimer’s: Symptoms and treatment
Every year more than 40,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s in Spain. The first symptoms and signs that should alert us are:
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Loss of memory.
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Mood swings and even depression.
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Language problems.
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Visual or space difficulties.
According to experts, these symptoms manifest themselves in a progressive and gradual way. The evolution can last between 5 and 15 years.
The Spanish Society of Neurology foresees that between 30 and 40% of Alzheimer’s cases are undiagnosed. This situation prevents the early initiation of the pharmacological treatment indicated for the disease.
Yes indeed, The medications currently available “only manage to slow down the progression of symptoms. Therefore, “its severity is not reduced nor is cognitive function restored.”
But can it be avoided?
The doctor Juan Fortea emphasizes that “it is estimated that half of the cases of Alzheimer’s disease can be attributed to nine potentially modifiable risk factors”.
The risk factors, according to the neurologist specialized in neurodegenerative diseases, are:
- Diabetes mellitus.
- Arterial hypertension in middle age of life.
- Obesity in middle age of life.
- Smoking.
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Physical inactivity.
- Depression.
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Cognitive inactivity.
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Low educational level.
- Hearing loss (total or partial inability to perceive sounds).
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Social isolation.
2024-01-07 19:55:06
#benefits #flu #vaccine
