According to the results of research related to Alzheimer’s disease published so far, it is known that it is caused by genetic factors, lifestyle, and environmental factors. And a recently published study found that vaccination with some vaccines, including the tuberculosis vaccine BCG and the chickenpox/singles vaccine, could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
A team of researchers from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center investigated the link between a flu vaccine and Alzheimer’s risk, according to a press release published by Medicalnewstoday. The study results were published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
The researchers used existing claims data from patients 65 years of age and older without dementia and created two groups of 935,887 patients each. The first group received the flu vaccine and the second group did not.
In the study, patients who received one or more flu vaccines were 40 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s over four years than those who did not. The risk was lowest among patients who received the flu vaccine every year for six years.
The researchers said they used a six-year study period because previous studies showed that at least six flu vaccines were needed to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. The study’s lead author, Dr Abram Buchbinder, said the data were reanalyzed to see the effect over four, six and eight years.
He explained, “Influenza vaccination had a similar effect when the period of vaccination for Alzheimer’s disease was increased from 4 to 8 years,” he explained. “Since we found a link between the two, it wasn’t very surprising to find similar results in the broader US elderly population.”
However, experts say it is too early to recommend the flu vaccine to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and that the flu vaccine may affect the innate immune system.