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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The vaccine you get to prevent pneumonia could also cut your risk of heart attack.
In a recent study, researchers found patients given a pneumococcal (pneumonia) vaccine showed a 50 percent lower risk of heart attacks two years after vaccination. The study was performed on patients at high risk of heart attack.
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This association appeared stronger and the benefit appeared to increase with time since exposure to the vaccine, study author Danielle Pilon, M.D., from the University of Sherbrooke and McMaster University, was quoted as saying.
Doctors hypothesized that the vaccine protects against heart attack because pneumonia has been shown to trigger heart attacks. Studies have also shown respiratory (especially influenza) and urinary tract infections are associated with heart attacks. Researchers said these results suggest physicians should encourage pneumococcal and influenza vaccination in high-risk patients.
SOURCE: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2008
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