Have Heart Disease? Get the Swine Flu Vaccine Hot Springs National Park AR

If you have heart disease, the swine flu vaccine can do more than just prevent the aches, pains, and fever associated with the virus. It may also protect you from having a heart attack, according to study published in the British medical journal The Lancet.  

The study, which analyzed 39 previous studies of heart patients, found that people with heart disease were more vulnerable to heart attacks after a bout with the flu than healthy people, with up to half of all unexpected flu deaths attributable to heart disease.

According to the American Heart Association, all types of influenza pose a greater threat for people with heart failure or any cardiovascular disease because they can worsen existing underlying chronic medical conditions. Heart patients are also at greater risk for complications from the flu, including pneumonia. And while flu viruses cause inflammation in the body, usually the lungs, they can also cause the heart itself or the coronary arteries to swell. This can lead to clots breaking off and lodging in the heart, resulting in a heart attack.

Although it isn't clear whether the British study results pertain to healthy people with no history of heart disease, experts caution that flu viruses could be a potential trigger for heart attacks in people with no apparent heart problem if they have other risk factors such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol or are overweight.

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