流感疫苗的神奇功效
Researchers conducting a study of hospital stays for over two hundred and eighty six thousand older folks found something interesting in their data.
The number of hospitalizations for heart disease and stroke went down significantly among a certain group of people at a certain time of year. What folks, and what time of year, you ask? Flu season–and the lucky people were the ones who got flu shots.
It’s generally recommended that people over fifty get their flu shots every year. Influenza is no small thing–it’s responsible for around thirty six thousand deaths a year in the U.S. alone. Getting the shots also cuts down on the chances of getting pneumonia, which is especially dangerous in seniors.
But what wasn’t known was that there seems to be an added benefit to getting a flu shot in terms of warding off heart problems. The data, in fact, are quite strong in suggesting this is the case.
In this study, flu shots cut down the number of hospitalizations for heart disease by nineteen percent. Stroke went down sixteen percent one season and a whopping twenty-three percent a second season. These are big results.
So what’s the connection between getting a flu shot and having a stronger heart? It isn’t yet known.
Researchers speculate that the flu virus itself may do damage to blood vessels, possibly making clots more likely. Blood clots in the heart can cause heart attacks, and blood clots in the brain can cause strokes.
Whatever the specific details are, there’s one more good reason to follow your doctor’s advice–and get that annual flu shot.
研究人員在醫(yī)院住院部做了一個調(diào)查,他們的研究對象是186000位老人。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)一些有趣的數(shù)據(jù)。
在一年中的特定時間段,一組特定的病人住院治療心臟病和中風(fēng)的數(shù)目明顯減少。你就會問,是什么樣的人,又是一年中的什么時候呢?答案是:流感季節(jié)——而這些幸運(yùn)的人就是那些注射流感疫苗的人。
醫(yī)生一般建議50歲以上的老人每年都要接種流感疫苗。流行性感冒決不是小事。僅在美國,每年就有約36000人死于流感。接種流感疫苗還能較低得肺炎的機(jī)率。老人得肺炎非常危險。
但以前我們并不知道,接種流感疫苗在避開心臟問題方面似乎還有另外一個好處。這些數(shù)據(jù)實(shí)際上很有力地說明了這一點(diǎn)。
在這次的調(diào)查中,流感疫苗減少了19%心臟病住院人數(shù)。中風(fēng)住院人數(shù)一個季度減少了16%,并在第二個季度減少了22%。這些調(diào)查結(jié)果很重要。
接種流感疫苗和擁有一個強(qiáng)健的心臟之間有什么必然聯(lián)系嗎?目前尚無定論。
研究人員推測流感病毒本身可能會損壞血管,產(chǎn)生血塊的可能性更大。心臟里的血塊會引發(fā)心臟病,而大腦里的血塊會導(dǎo)致中風(fēng)。
不管具體的細(xì)節(jié)是什么,總之又多了一個很好的理由要聽醫(yī)生的話——每年接種流感疫苗。