Should Alzheimer’s Patients Get Flu Shots?
November 25, 2007 by Mary Emma Allen
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
“Your mother needs a flu shot,” the nurse mentioned as flu season approached.
Mother had only had one flu shot in her life, when my dad was alive. They both got sick from it…”colds” as they called them, so vowed never again. However, I thought more about it as the nurse explained that in the nursing home Mother would encounter more people (residents as well as visitors) who might have the flu than when she had mainly stayed at home.
So I decided to go ahead and agree to the flu shot. Mother had no adverse reaction to it and stayed healthy all winter when everyone around her was ill. For the next seven years, as long as she lived, she got the flu shot and remained well, except perhaps for a few sniffles. The staff remarked that she must have a wonderful immune system.
Scott, in his post, Flu Season Approaches, at Health and Men, got me thinking about flu season as it applies to Alzheimer’s patients. He explained that not every flu shot seems to give the same reaction and different people also react differently. Scott also provides a few links to give you more information about flu shots.
Laura Spencer at Work From Home Momma also wrote a very informative post about flu shots, Should You Get a Flu Shot?
Flu shots are something you’ll have to decide for yourself and the Alzheimer’s patient (if they can no longer make their own decisions). Also, while you’re considering, find out about pneumonia shots, too. Our doctor recommended these for my husband and me.
Leading biologist Dr. Hugh Fundenburg has stated that if a person receives too many flu shots their chances of getting Alzheimers disease is 10 times greater. Fundenburg believes it’s due to the combination of mercury and aluminum “build-up” from flu shots and childhood vaccines.
Thank you for writing and sharing this information about flu shots and Alzheimer’s. I think getting flu shots carries it’s pros and cons with almost everyone. My mom only had one flu shot before she developed Alzheimer’s, so unless that one was a really high dose of mercury and aluminum, I’d doubt it played a role in her incurring this disease. However, after she was in the nursing home, I did agree to have her get the shots. Whether it was the flu shots or her good immune system, she never was sick except for the sniffles the entire 9 years she was there. I would be interesting if there is a direct correlation proven between flu shots and Alzheimer’s as research continues. I’ve never had a flu shot…maybe I should never get one!
There is more information on Dr. Mercola’s website re: flu shots:
http://www.mercola.com/2000/nov/26/flu_shots.htm
Olive leaf extract works on both viral and bacterial infections. Discuss this option with a holistic doctor.