Flu Virus May Cause Heart Attack

If you think that all flu can do is make you feel a wee bit lousy, this new research will force you to think again.

According to the author of the study Dr. Jeff Kwong at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and Public Health Ontario, if you have flu, you are 6 times more likely to suffer from a heart attack, especially during the first 7 days after you have diagnosed with the virus. Before this study, doctors had doubts on their minds about the flu being a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. But they were not sure because of the lack of solid evidence. One reason there is not enough evidence is that most people with flu don’t get tested. But the study involving many patients over the age of 65 who had flu had a heart attack as well. Besides, most of the patients were at a higher risk of heart disease because they had many risk factors like diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, to name a few. So, if you try to take precautions to prevent the infection, you may reduce your risk of having a heart attack. Therefore, it’s better to get a flu vaccine to be on the safe side.