Flu shots may cut risk of heart attacks

The annual flu shot is a notoriously tough sell, but what if the shots prevented heart attacks, too? New Canadian research suggests that the influenza vaccine significantly lowers the risk of heart attack, strokes and dying from heart disease. Toronto researchers who searched the medical literature back to the 1960s found that flu shots are associated with about a 50-per cent reduction in the risk of having a major cardiovascular "event" in the year following vaccination, for people with and without known coronary artery disease. "It's a pretty profound finding," said Dr. Jacob Udell, a cardiologist and clinician scientist at Toronto's Women's College Hospital and the University of Toronto. Udell was scheduled to present his team's findings at the 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress meeting in Toronto