X-Message-Number: 18464
From: "John de Rivaz" <>
Subject: There is a theory linking infectious disease with atherosclerosis
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 23:12:16 -0000

From Infobeat

>>>
Study Finds Flu Shots Prevent Strokes

A flu shot can protect you against a stroke, a French study finds.

The risk was 40 percent lower for people who had the influenza vaccine
compared to a carefully matched group of people who didn't, researchers at
the Denis Diderot University in Paris report in the February issue of
Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association.

"There is a theory linking infectious disease with atherosclerosis
[hardening of the arteries]," explains Dr. Pierre Amarenco, professor of
neurology at the university and a member of the study group. "Especially, it
says that infections can promote or trigger occlusions of blood vessels,
either coronary arteries or brain arteries."

"We hypothesized that patients vaccinated against influenza may be at less
risk of brain infarction [stroke] because they are at less risk of
infection. So, we asked patients admitted for brain infarction whether they
had been vaccinated against influenza and compared them with control persons
who were matched for age, sex and place of residence. We found that the
stroke patients were much less likely to be vaccinated than the controls."

That result verifies what was once regarded as a heretical link between the
flu vaccine and protection against both stroke and heart attack after it was
first reported in 2000 by Dr. S. Ward Casscells, a professor of medicine and
leader of a research group at the University of Texas at Houston Medical
School.
<<<

--
Sincerely, John de Rivaz:      http://www.deRivaz.com
my homepage links to Longevity Report, Fractal Report, music, Inventors'
report, an autobio and various other projects:
http://www.geocities.com/longevityrpt
http://www.autopsychoice.com - http://www.cryonics-europe.org -
http://www.porthtowan.com

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=18464