WASHINGTON, DC, Aug 14 -- The Centers for Disease Control [CDC] says it is particularly important this year that we get our flu shots this year because the coronavirus has put an unprecedented strain on America’s healthcare resources. As CDC epidemiologist Mark Thompson put it in a recent article published by NPR: “No year is a good year to get the flu, but this year — with COVID-19 also raging — it’s especially bad.”
Recalling the deadly outbreak of the Spanish Flu in 1918, the same article described the need to promote the flu vaccine this year as “arguably the most important U.S. effort to prevent influenza’s spread among Americans in a century.”
“Indeed, there is an extensive list of the benefits of flu shots, the newest of which is research that shows the flu vaccine and the pneumonia vaccine are linked to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s Disease,” reports Rebecca Weber, CEO of the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC].
Weber explains that research reports presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference recently show that flu shots may reduce the risk of the disease. She cites an Alzheimer’s Association news release that describes several separate studies.
One of the studies was conducted by a team led by researcher Albert Amran at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. They used a nationwide database 9,000 individuals 60 years of age and older and found that those who had a flu shot had at least a 17% lower risk of Alzheimer’s.
Another study carried out at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina by Dr. Svetlana Ukraintseva found the Alzheimer’s risk for people between the ages of 65 and 75 who had been vaccinated against pneumonia was reduced by as much as 40%. That study was conducted among 5,146 participants.
The Alzheimer’s Association chief science officer, Dr. Maria Carrillo, noted that the research presented at the Association’s conference “calls for further studies in large, diverse clinical trials to inform whether vaccinations as a public health strategy decrease our risk for developing dementia as we age.”
The 2 million member Association ofMature American Citizens [AMAC] www.amac.us is a vibrant, vital senior advocacy organization that takes its marching orders from its members. AMAC Action is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization representing the membership in our nation’s capital and in local Congressional Districts throughout the country. And the AMAC Foundation (www.AmacFoundation.org) is the Association’s non-profit organization, dedicated to supporting and educating America’s Seniors. Together, we act and speak on the Association members’ behalf, protecting their interests and offering a practical insight on how to best solve the problems they face today. Live long and make a difference by joining us today at www.amac.us/join-amac.