Flu season is upon us but for  heart patients it's never too late  to get vaccinated.  That's because it may be more than a deterrant, it  may save their lives.

In an article on WebMD, 'Flu Vaccine Cuts Heart Disease', doctors have found that those with  plaque buildup in their arteries  are two thirds less likely to die if they take a flu shot than those who do not.  

A study  included  randomly administering 658 angioplasty patients  with  the flu vaccine or a placebo vaccine.    

The findings  were presented at the annual meeting of the  American Heart Association(AHA)  where  doctors agreed with the findings.



"A bout of flu tends to make people with heart disease even sicker and increase the chance of having to go to the emergency room or hospital," AHA president Ray Gibbons MD, professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota told  WebMD.

Doctors say getting the flu shot is so important for heart patients that it may  not be  too late to  protect them from death, emergency heart surgery, heart attacks and other  complications.  

For the average person, the ideal time to get vaccinated is between September to December and it takes up two weeks to work. Heart patients are encouraged to get the flu shot in January or even later, to protect them from influenza which commonly peaks in January through March.

To read the WebMD article click here: http://www.webmd.com/content/article/129/117572.htm