A group of researchers consisting of Paul E. Schulz, MD, found that influenza vaccination was related to a reduced risk for Alzheimers disease over a four-year period. Credit: UTHealth Houston.
” We found that flu vaccination in older grownups reduces the risk of developing Alzheimers illness for a number of years. The strength of this protective effect increased with the variety of years that a person received a yearly flu vaccine– simply put, the rate of establishing Alzheimers was least expensive amongst those who regularly received the influenza vaccine every year,” said Bukhbinder, who is still part of Schulzs research study group while in his very first year of residency with the Division of Child Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Future research study ought to examine whether flu vaccination is also associated with the rate of symptom development in patients who currently have Alzheimers dementia.”
The research study– which comes 2 years after UTHealth Houston researchers discovered a possible link between the flu vaccine and reduced threat of Alzheimers illness– evaluated a much larger sample than previous research, including 935,887 flu-vaccinated clients and 935,887 non-vaccinated clients.
Avram S. Bukhbinder, MD, a recent alumnus of McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, was very first author on the study. Credit: Avram Bukhbinder/UTHealth Houston
During four-year follow-up consultations, about 5.1% of flu-vaccinated clients were found to have established Alzheimers illness. On the other hand, 8.5% of non-vaccinated clients had developed Alzheimers disease during follow-up.
These outcomes highlight the strong protective effect of the flu vaccine versus Alzheimers illness, according to Bukhbinder and Schulz. However, the hidden systems behind this procedure require further research study.
“Instead, we believe that the immune system is complicated, and some alterations, such as pneumonia, may activate it in a method that makes Alzheimers illness worse. Other things that activate the immune system may do so in a various method– one that safeguards from Alzheimers disease.
Alzheimers illness impacts more than 6 million people living in the U.S., with the number of afflicted individuals growing due to the nations aging population. Past research studies have actually discovered a decreased threat of dementia related to prior direct exposure to various adulthood vaccinations, consisting of those for tetanus, polio, and herpes, in addition to the flu vaccine and others.
In addition, as more time passes because the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine and longer follow-up information ends up being offered, Bukhbinder stated it will be worth investigating whether a comparable association exists in between COVID-19 vaccination and the risk of Alzheimers disease.
Reference: “Risk of Alzheimers Disease Following Influenza Vaccination: A Claims-Based Cohort Study Using Propensity Score Matching” by Avram S. Bukhbinder, Yaobin Ling, Omar Hasan, Xiaoqian Jiang, Yejin Kim, Kamal N. Phelps, Rosemarie E. Schmandt, Albert Amran, Ryan Coburn, Srivathsan Ramesh, Qian Xiao and Paul E. Schulz, 13 June 2022, Journal of Alzheimer s Disease.DOI: 10.3233/ JAD-220361.
Co-authors from McGovern Medical School included Omar Hasan, research organizer in the Department of Neurology and student at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Kamal N. Phelps, fourth-year medical student; Srivathsan Ramesh, PhD, first-year local in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery; and alumni Albert Amran, MD, and Ryan Coburn, MD. Co-authors from UTHealth Houston School of Biomedical Informatics consisted of Yaobin Ling, graduate research assistant; Xiaoqian Jiang, PhD, the Christopher Sarofim Family Professor in Biomedical Informatics and Engineering; and Yejin Kim, PhD, assistant teacher. Qian Xiao, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Disease Control with UTHealth School of Public Health, also co-authored the research study.
A new research study finds that flu vaccination was related to a 40% decreased threat for Alzheimers illness over a four-year duration.
Over the course of four years, those who got a minimum of one influenza vaccine were 40% less likely than their non-vaccinated peers to acquire Alzheimers disease, according to a new study from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Researchers compared the risk of Alzheimers illness occurrence between patients with and without previous flu vaccination in a large nationwide sample of U.S. grownups aged 65 and older. The research study was led by very first author Avram S. Bukhbinder, MD, a recent alumnus of McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, and senior author Paul. E. Schulz, MD, the Rick McCord Professor in Neurology at McGovern Medical School.
An early online version of the paper detailing the findings is available in advance of its publication in the August 2, 2022, problem of the Journal of Alzheimers Disease.
Researchers compared the risk of Alzheimers disease occurrence between clients with and without prior flu vaccination in a large across the country sample of U.S. grownups aged 65 and older.” We found that influenza vaccination in older grownups reduces the danger of establishing Alzheimers disease for numerous years. The strength of this protective effect increased with the number of years that an individual received an annual influenza vaccine– in other words, the rate of developing Alzheimers was lowest amongst those who consistently got the flu vaccine every year,” said Bukhbinder, who is still part of Schulzs research study team while in his first year of residency with the Division of Child Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Instead, we believe that the immune system is complicated, and some alterations, such as pneumonia, may activate it in a way that makes Alzheimers illness worse. Other things that trigger the immune system might do so in a different way– one that protects from Alzheimers illness.