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Be Careful Of Flu Symptoms If You Are Suffering From A Heart Disease, Can Turn Out To Be Fatal

Be Careful Of Flu Symptoms If You Are Suffering From A Heart Disease, Can Turn Out To Be Fatal

People with flu are six times more likely to suffer from a heart attack or stroke, but a flu vaccine may be able to lower that risk. Here's how!

Written by Arushi Bidhuri |Updated : October 19, 2021 12:12 PM IST

It is universal knowledge that people with heart diseases need to be extra careful in their life. If you are someone with heart disease or risk factors of heart disease, you already know that you are at a higher risk of suffering from a heart attack or a stroke. But coming down with the flu can make things worse and significantly increase the risk.

The flu is well-known for causing serious respiratory problems such as pneumonia, bronchitis, and bacterial infections of the lungs. However, the virus's effects on the heart have been more difficult to pinpoint in the past. Studies have shown that people suffering from flu are at a substantially higher risk of a serious or even fatal cardiac event.

But Taking Flu Vaccine May Cut Heart Disease Risk

Preliminary studies have shown that patients are six times more likely to have a heart attack in the week following an influenza illness than at any other time during the year prior to or after the flu virus.

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A review of studies published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that not only does the vaccination protect the general population and the most susceptible age groups (over 65 and under 2) from severe flu, but it also protects against cardiovascular mortality, particularly in the high-risk population.

As per the study results, adults who received the vaccine were 37% less likely to be hospitalised for the flu and 82 per cent less likely to be put to the ICU, according to Houston Methodist researchers writing in the review. If the patient caught the flu, vaccination was linked to a decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases (2.9 per cent vs. 4.7 per cent). Vaccination was related to significantly better outcomes among the highest-risk patients with more active coronary disease.

Lead author Dr Priyanka Bhugra, internal medicine specialist at Houston Methodist explained that the reason flu stresses the heart and the vascular system so much is due to the inflammatory response of the body to the infection. So, experts recommend that people with an underlying chronic condition should get the flu vaccination to help people protect against acute cardiovascular events associated with influenza.

Recognize The Symptoms Of Flu Before Its Too Late

Fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body ache, headache, chills, and weariness are among flu symptoms. Vomiting and diarrhoea are also possible side effects, albeit this is more common in children than in adults. People who are infected with the flu may experience respiratory symptoms without developing a fever. If you have flu symptoms, call your health providers right away to get proper treatment and prevent serious flu complications. Also, people who are at higher risk of serious complications should get a flu shot after consulting their doctors.