The newest tool for preventing heart attacks is … a flu shot. Between 10% and 20% of people catch the flu each year, and a bad case can be deadly for individuals with coronary heart disease. Yet only one in three adults with cardiovascular disease gets an annual flu shot.
People with heart disease are not only at higher risk for the flu than the general population but also more likely to have a severe case and to develop complications, such as viral or bacterial pneumonia. What's more, the flu can worsen coronary heart disease and trigger a heart attack.
No one knows for sure how the flu increases the risk of a heart attack. One possibility: Inflammation associated with the flu can trigger the rupture of unstable plaque, leading to the formation of a blood clot that could cause a heart attack.
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Heart Benefits of the Flu Shot -- The strongest evidence for protection from a flu shot in people with heart disease comes from the Flu Vaccination in Acute Coronary Syndromes (FLUVACS) study. In that study, about 300 individuals who had been hospitalized for either a heart attack or a planned angioplasty were randomly assigned to receive a flu vaccine or remain unvaccinated. Over the next year, twice as many of the unvaccinated group (23%) died of heart disease, had a nonfatal heart attack, or developed severe ischemia (insufficient blood supply to the heart tissue), compared with those who were vaccinated (11%).
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends a flu shot with the same enthusiasm as it does the control of cholesterol, blood pressure, and other modifiable risk factors for heart attacks. In a scientific advisory issued by the AHA and the American College of Cardiology heart doctors were asked to do something they may not normally do -- give their patients flu shots. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends an annual flu shot for individuals age 50 and older as well as anyone with a chronic health problem such as heart disease or diabetes.
Besides getting a flu shot, two other simple measures -- frequent hand washing and, if possible, avoiding close contact with a flu sufferer -- can help reduce the risk of catching the flu.
