Influenza Vaccine Vs. Alzheimer’s Disease

Influenza vaccine is commonly known as the flu shot. This shot and the pneumonia vaccination just might help you and your grandmother fight Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Association has recently released this good news. And it comes to us through new research, reported at the 2020 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

Due to Covid-19 vaccine research, the properties and powers of vaccines are claiming the forefront of many scientific studies. In fact, research in the field is exploding with new studies and impressive results.

 

Lowering Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease With Flu Vaccine:  Three New Studies

Not just one, but three research studies agree. Both the influenza vaccine and the pneumonia vaccine help lower your risk of Alzheimer’s Disease.

• In many cases, “At least one flu vaccination was associated with a 17% reduction in Alzheimer’s incidence.”
• Likewise, if the patients got their annual influenza vaccine, the result was even more encouraging. “More frequent influenza vaccination was associated with another 13% reduction in Alzheimer’s incidence.”
• Moreover, FLASS found it fascinating that “The studies in vaccination against pneumonia, between ages 65 and 75, reduced Alzheimer’s risk by up to 40% depending on individual genes.”

 

Influenza Vaccine and the Fight Against Alzheimer’s Disease:  Fascinating New Protection From an Unexpected Source

The Doctors, healthcare providers, and staff at FLASS find this new information to be yet another powerful reason for us all to get our influenza vaccination.

You see, “Individuals with dementia have a higher risk of dying (6-fold) after infections than those without dementia (3-fold).”  Additionally, the need for Influenza vaccinations is pertinent to our vulnerable seniors.

 

How Does Influenza Vaccine Influence the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease?

There is no question this phenomenon requires more study. Maria C. Carrillo, Ph.D., is the Alzheimer’s Association chief science officer. She stated, “The COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines are at the forefront of public health discussions. It is important to explore their benefit in not only protecting against viral or bacterial infection but also improving long-term health outcomes.”

She added, “It may turn out to be as simple as if you’re taking care of your health in this way — getting vaccinated — you’re also taking care of yourself in other ways…” “and these things add up to lower risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.”

Then Dr. Carrillo added, “This research… calls for further studies in large, diverse clinical trials...”

 

University of Texas Health Science Center:  Ongoing Discoveries

No large studies focused on the powerful suggestion that the seasonal influenza vaccine could reduce the incidence of Alzheimer’s Dementia. Previous research has suggested vaccinations may have a protective factor against cognitive decline.

Albert Amran is a medical student at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He and his research team made this study their mission.  The team investigated a large American health record dataset of 9,066 cases, a good-sized study.

 

 Influenza Vaccine Vs. Alzheimer’s Disease:  A Happy Connection 

It was Amran and his team found even having one flu vaccination was associated with a lower prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease.

Likewise, they confirmed among vaccinated patients receiving the influenza vaccine more frequently was associated with an even lower prevalence of Alzheimer’s. Thus, “people that consistently got their annual flu shot had a lower risk of Alzheimer’s.”

Even more importantly,

they discovered that this translated to an almost 6% reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease for patients between the ages of 75-84 for 16 years.

1. When was the strongest protective association between the vaccine and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease? They discovered it within patients who received their first vaccine at a younger age –
2. For example, the people who received their first documented influenza vaccine at age 60 benefitted more than those who received their first flu shot at age 70.

A Brand New Benefit from the Simple Influenza Vaccine

The Alzheimer’s disease research community has lauded the news.  “Our study suggests that regular use of a very accessible and relatively cheap intervention — the flu shot — may significantly reduce risk of Alzheimer’s dementia,” Amran said.

“More research is needed to explore the biological mechanism for this effect — why and how it works in the body — which is important as we explore effective preventive therapies for Alzheimer’s.”

 

Pneumonia Vaccine:  Fighting  Alzheimer’s Risk Later in Life

In fact, they refer to using the vaccine with the goal of reducing Alzheimer’s Disease as a Repurposing of existing vaccines. Additionally, they see it as a promising approach to Alzheimer’s disease prevention.

Svetlana Ukraintseva, Ph.D. is an Associate Research Professor in the Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU) at Duke University Social Science Research Institute. She and her team, investigated associations between pneumococcal vaccination and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.  They studied cases with and without an accompanying seasonal flu shot.

The team also enlisted a large group of 5,146 patients in the study. All of them were over age 65. Determined not to overlook any detail, they also factored into the study, “a known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s. This is the rs2075650 G allele in the TOMM40 gene.”

 

Among the Exciting Finds:  Vaccines As Weapons Against or Preventatives for Alzheimer’s disease

1. The researchers discovered that pneumococcal vaccination between ages 65-75 reduced the risk of developing Alzheimer’s by 25-30%.
2. More importantly, they discovered this after adjusting for sex, race, birth cohort, education, smoking, and the number of G alleles.
3. They saw the largest reduction in the risk of Alzheimer’s (up to 40%) among people vaccinated against pneumonia who were non-carriers of the risk gene.
4. The total number of vaccinations against pneumonia and the flu between ages 65 and 75 was also associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s.

 

The Final Conclusion in the Svetlana Ukraintseva Study

Their ultimate finding was that “Vaccinations against pneumonia before age 75 may reduce Alzheimer’s risk later in life, depending on individual genotype,” Ukraintseva said. “This data suggest that pneumococcal vaccine may be a promising candidate for personalized Alzheimer’s prevention, particularly in non-carriers of certain risk genes.”

 

Infection Substantially Increases Mortality in People with Dementia

We also have to realize that people living with dementia often have other health conditions. This includes viral, bacterial, and other infections. As the research areas of vaccines and infectious diseases widen, there exists a growing trend to investigate whether flu and pneumonia type infections might be “worsening, more life-threatening, or possibly causing dementia.”

Janet Janbek is a Ph.D. student at the Danish Dementia Research Centre, Rigshospitalet, and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Her team discovered this combination of factors.

When people who had dementia caught an infection and went to the hospital to cure the infection, they died at a 6.5 times higher rate than people who did not have dementia or did not have a hospital stay for their minor infection. The mortality rate was the highest 30 days after discharge.

Dr. Janbet’s results are an appeal for more research. “Our study supports the need to investigate these relations even further…”  Now scientists want to know. why infections are linked to higher mortality in people with dementia.  Likewise, they hope to discover how to control these risk factors. “This will help advance our understanding of the role of infections in dementia,” said Janbek.

 

Influenza Vaccine Viewed Through the Lens of COVID-19

We cannot help but view this new Alzheimer’s research as a cry for help in protecting our elderly population from all infections.  And if the flu puts a loved one with Alzheimer’s in the hospital, we must now realize they are 6X more likely to die.

Let’s repeat that:  SIX TIMES. Those loved ones are indeed, our most vulnerable. They are not only vulnerable in 2020 to COVID-19, but to influenza and to Alzheimer’s Disease.  

So, be doubly certain:

1. The beloved senior members of our family must have the protection of the influenza vaccine.
2. Additionally, they should have a pneumonia vaccine. Likewise, we now know those vaccines not only help them fight off the infections, but also lower their risks of Alzheimer’s disease.

It’s a great side-benefit—You see, not all side effects are bad.

Thank you for reading the FLASS blog, and please, get your influenza vaccine today. And do take the time to take Grandma and Grandpa with you.  As vaccine studies continue at a stellar rate, we might find they are even more protective than we realize.