Chances of Heart Attacks Said To Be Lowered By Pneumonia Vaccine

Chances of Heart Attacks Said To Be Lowered By Pneumonia Vaccine

A new Canadian study has found that being vaccinated against pneumonia halves the risk of having a heart attack two years later.

To reach this conclusion, it is reported that the study compared 999 people admitted to Canadian hospitals for heart attacks, with 3,996 admitted for other reasons.

Very tellingly, no difference was discovered between those who did or did not have the pneumococcal vaccine in the previous year, but a 50 percent lower rate for those getting the vaccine two years earlier.

A report in the current issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal from researchers at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec says:
"If confirmed, this association should generate interest in exploring the putative mechanisms and may offer another reason to promote pneumococcal vaccination."

At this stage, it is noteworthy of mention that according to Dr. Mohammad Madjid, a senior research scientist at the Texas Heart Institute, who wrote an accompanying commentary, there are plenty of theories and many statistics linking pneumonia with heart attacks.

As a matter of fact, Madjid is quoted as saying that indeed, "many years ago, at the start of the 20th century, scientists believed that heart attacks had an infectious origin," Madjid said.

That belief has been pushed aside as studies showed the importance of risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes.

"But in every epidemic of influenza, there is a sharp rise in the number of heart attacks," Madjid said. "You have more people dying of heart attacks than of pneumonia."

It is noteworthy of mention that the new report parallels that of a study reported two years ago, said Dr. David Fisman, a medical epidemiologist at the Ontario Public Health Laboratories.

Lower rates of heart attack, kidney failure and other problems were also seen in the vaccinated group, Fisman added.

"If they did get pneumonia, they were less likely to get bacteremia, bacteria in the blood," Fisman said. "Heart disease may be an inflammatory process, and infection is a physiological challenge that generates an inflammatory response."

Whatever the mechanism, "people should discuss with their doctors whether they need to take the vaccine," Madjid said.

On a concluding note, Fisman is quoted as saying: "This study is consistent with a number of studies showing that having the vaccine makes it less likely that people will die of pneumonia or heart disease. The important take-home message is that pneumococcal vaccine gets a bad rap. It saves lives. It is a lot safer to vaccinate people than to pull them back from the brink when they have a heart attack."

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