The Anonymous Widower

Can Influenza Cause Strokes?

I ask this question in an enquiring fashion, not actually wanting to prejudice the answer.  After all I’ve criticised medical researchers on this blog a couple of times for trying to prove a theory rather than solve a problem.

So let’s start with some facts about me.

• I had a stroke on Monday and this winter despite having a flu jab, I got a bad dose of flu.  I also remember saying to my housekeeper and she confirmed it, that I thought that the flu was coming back.
• As I write, I have a runny nose and my head feels just like it does when you are getting over a cold.
• I have also had another small stroke in the last perhaps couple of years.  This I don’t remember, but I think I can remember a time when I woke up dribbling.  But then I had no slurred speech.  I vaguely remember telling my wife that I felt odd, but that was it.  When exactly it was I do not know.
• I also remember two incidents where I blacked out for perhaps a second whilst driving.  Incidentally, both times it was in the Lotus and in one, I know I was getting over the flu and put the incident down to that.  Both days were days with a lot of sunlight.  I just put them down to the usual migraines that I occasionally get and one to the flu.

So were the last two incidents TIAs.

Two of these incidents definitely involved recent flu.

Now this may all be conjecture and two out of four is not good statistics, so you can make what you want out of them.

But!

This article in the New England Journal of Medicine, which is a respected journal seems to show that if you are vaccinated against flu, then you are less likely to be admitted to hospital with a heart attack or a stroke.

This large study definitely shows that if you don’t get flu, then you are less likely to have a stroke.

But is the reverse true?

March 17, 2010 - Posted by AnonW | Health | Influenza, Migraines, Stroke