UK flu study exposes stroke and heart attack dangers
A dose of the flu doubles the immediate risk of a heart attack or stroke with sufferers four times more likely to be affected within three days and at double the risk for up to a week.
A UK study of two million people showed that the increased risks associated with the flu were a “substantial health problem” that ended up killing thousands of elderly people each year with the flu risks also applying to other serious respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia.
The flu dislodges fatty deposits that build up in the arteries leaving them free to move around the body and become capable of blocking the blood flow if they are lodged in the heart or brain.
Professor Tom Meade, a co-author of the study, said that heart attacks and stroke brought on by flu and other respiratory infections would account for “several thousand” of the 23,000 more people who die in the winter in the UK compared with the summer months.
Professor Meade called for all elderly and vulnerable patients to have flu injections to help guard against the health risks. He said these risks did not apply to colds, but only to serious bouts of flu or bronchitis which were severe enough for patients to see their GP.
