Strong relationship found between stronger flu vaccine and lower Alzheimer’s risk in seniors, SciTechDaily.com has the story. Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.
Older adults who receive a higher dose of the influenza vaccine may have a significantly lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared to those who receive the standard dose.
Compared to the standard-dose flu vaccine, which was associated with a 40% reduction in Alzheimer’s risk, the high-dose vaccine was linked to nearly a 55% reduction in risk among adults age 65 and older.
At this point nobody knows why this finding occurs. It could be that seniors who are still “with it” are even more likely to demand the higher dose, and that those who don’t get any flu shots are already “losing it.”
Be clear, I don’t posit that as explaining the correlational findings. I merely point out the two things occur together and we have no explanation as to why. It is too soon to be claiming one thing causes the other, perhaps some third thing influences both.
On the other hand, if getting the stronger shot improves your chances of dodging Alzheimer’s why not do it? There is little downside.
