Flu vaccines dangerous?

[Jancall]

I wondering what your thoughts are concerning the safety of flu vaccines as they relate to Alzheimers, based on their containing Aluminum and/or Mercury. Trying to decide whether to get the vaccine this year. Last year I contracted the flu, which turned into pneumonia and then sepsis and a life-threatening 12 day hospital stay. I had planned on getting the vaccine this year, but have also read about the dangers of Aluminum in the brain and the possible contribution to developing Alzheimers. What to do??

[Plumster]

Tough one! I hope someone will have some input. Here's the link to this year's flu vaccine and its composition: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/rr/ ... rr6703a1_w
I wanted to find the list of ingredients for you on the site, but I couldn't find it. Maybe you will have better luck.

I remember reading that cheese has more aluminum in it than a vaccine shot does. I don't have the source for that claim, though.

If you would like someone to convince you to not get the vaccine, look up Dr. Pam Popper on flu vaccines. She has videos on Youtube. But that's not to say her decision is the right one for you.

[KatieS]

Mercury-free (no perservative) have been mandated in California for children and pregnant women for over a decade now. Most clinics simply give the same shot to everyone. Developing influenza can cause major inflammation, hence in my case, a reactivation of herpes simplex virus. Check with your providers, if need be, state you are "sensitive to thimerosal" (mercury), for the mercury-free influenza vaccine.

[Stavia]

I wondering what your thoughts are concerning the safety of flu vaccines as they relate to Alzheimers, based on their containing Aluminum and/or Mercury. Trying to decide whether to get the vaccine this year. Last year I contracted the flu, which turned into pneumonia and then sepsis and a life-threatening 12 day hospital stay. I had planned on getting the vaccine this year, but have also read about the dangers of Aluminum in the brain and the possible contribution to developing Alzheimers. What to do??

Hi Jan
Vaccines are a very emotional issue, and it is often difficult to stay objective when fearful. Just as with low fat versus high fat diets, or vegan versus non-vegan, there are two opposed camps. If you internet search you will find opposing views. It all depends what paradigm you adopt.
I am a mainstream doctor and work with the evidence. There is good evidence that flu vaccines reduce morbidity and mortality in those at risk. In New Zealand, our ICU in our capital is full of patients with influenza on life support. There is a theory presently that aluminium may be one of the factors tipping the balance towards AD, but no proof yet.
My stance is that if you are at risk of serious complications from flu (not just worried about a week in bed, but risk of pneumonia), this is a real significant and proven risk that outweighs a potential later risk. Please ask your doctor for advice.


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[circular]

I'm able to get the pediatric, no mercury one, outside California, but I need to ask for it specifically. It may be that most or all states carry it.

I hadn't thought about the aluminum. I've read that if you get the flu shot yearly, even if you get a flu not covered by that year's shot, over the years you are immunizing yourself against many different flu strains. If this is true, it could provide good protection in later years when we are even more vulnerable. I'm still willing to take the aluminum for that trade off in addition to current year advantages, and I've started drinking silica water to work aluminum out of my system, and my blood values are lower.

Dr. Bredesen has said that in his multifaceted protocol, many patients improve even when they're not able to plug all the holes in their roofs. So if you're doing lots of other things to reduce your risk of AD, for all the reasons mentioned above, the flu shot may be but a small, theoretical tick in the risk increase column that may be offset by: 1) drinking silica water, 2) going after the many other ways you could be getting aluminum and not realizing it, and 3) optimizing all the other things you can do that tip your risk of AD in your favor.

[NF52]

Trying to decide whether to get the vaccine this year. Last year I contracted the flu, which turned into pneumonia and then sepsis and a life-threatening 12 day hospital stay. I had planned on getting the vaccine this year...

Welcome Jancall,
Since you just joined us today, I'm not sure if you found the forum through an online search related to ApoE 4, or Alzheimer's, or maybe reading Dr. Bredesen's book, which mentions this forum. Whatever road brought you here, we're glad to try to offer our individual and collective experience and wisdom. In the "wisdom" department is Stavia, who replied to you all the way from New Zealand, where she has a large family medicine practice. She is also the author of our Primer, a terrific information about ApoE 4.

My comments here are very personal, and not in my role as a "Support Staff", although I hope you find them supportive.

I have an adult son who has spent a total of 13 days in an ICU--first as a newborn after surgery and then as a 5 year old after heart surgery. At the time of his heart surgery he was placed in an adult ICU (his surgeon liked their staff better). My husband and I had hours of seeing just how truly ill people in an ICU are--and how much their recovery depends on the skill and monitoring of round-the-clock teams. My son doesn't remember his time in the ICU, and I suspect you don't remember most of those days in either an ICU (where I assume you were with "life-threatening sepsis") or the step-down unit.

That's a blessing, because people in an ICU regularly set off alarms, when their bodies are crashing, or struggling to breathe, or when the person is agitated and trying to get out of bed. Even when they don't set off alarms, they may moan, and struggle to breathe against the respirator they need. Their families look haunted by the fear they can't dismiss. Our son is healthy now, but had pneumonia about a dozen times in childhood. And one message we got loud and clear: Don't EVER skip his flu shot; because someone whose immune system is compromised enough that they easily get pneumonia (in his case from underlying asthma) will be in enormous risk from the flu. That proved true when he caught the H1N1 flu while traveling in Malaysia as an adult and spent a week in isolation, and was discharged with a bag full of antibiotics.

Sepsis means your organs were at risk of shutting down, if they hadn't in fact started to shut down. The Mayo Clinic says 50% of people with severe sepsis die from it. I have ApoE 4/4, and I will NEVER skip a flu shot, and have already gotten the pneumonia vaccine for seniors. Please follow your plan to get the shot, and continue to visit this site and share your experiences and wisdom with us.

A hug from a friend, Jan.

[OldMainer]

My reading indicates that the flu vaccine is not nearly as effective as keeping your vitamin D3 levels between the Bredesen recommended levels of 50 and 80. (Note that you cannot do this effectively without the blood test. Individual response to D3 supplementation is highly variable.)

Read
https://www.cochrane.org/CD001269/ARI_v ... thy-adults
for the current gold standard evaluation by Cochrane Reviews.

I have kept my D3 levels between 50 and 80 for 10 years and skipped the flu vaccine entirely. In that time I have had 1 or 2 colds and no flu, despite being immune compromised from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. (Clinical trial N=1)

[Stavia]

My reading indicates that the flu vaccine is not nearly as effective as keeping your vitamin D3 levels between the Bredesen recommended levels of 50 and 80. (Note that you cannot do this effectively without the blood test. Individual response to D3 supplementation is highly variable.)

Read
https://www.cochrane.org/CD001269/ARI_v ... thy-adults
for the current gold standard evaluation by Cochrane Reviews.

I have kept my D3 levels between 50 and 80 for 10 years and skipped the flu vaccine entirely. In that time I have had 1 or 2 colds and no flu, despite being immune compromised from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. (Clinical trial N=1)

This is Cochrane review is of healthy adults, not those at risk, who would be a very small percentage of the population.
For a healthy adult, a flu vaccine will made imperceptible gains in their clinical outcome, as the baseline risk for influenza in a healthy adult is miniscule to begin with.
CLL does not cause clinically significant immunosupression.

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[Magda]

My reading indicates that the flu vaccine is not nearly as effective as keeping your vitamin D3 levels between the Bredesen recommended levels of 50 and 80. (Note that you cannot do this effectively without the blood test. Individual response to D3 supplementation is highly variable.)

Read
https://www.cochrane.org/CD001269/ARI_v ... thy-adults
for the current gold standard evaluation by Cochrane Reviews.

I have kept my D3 levels between 50 and 80 for 10 years and skipped the flu vaccine entirely. In that time I have had 1 or 2 colds and no flu, despite being immune compromised from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. (Clinical trial N=1)

Welcome to the site OldMainer!
Thank you for sharing with us your thought on flu prevention. I think strong and robust immune system is super important and supplementing with Vitamin D3 is one of the ways to get there.
If you have not had a chance yet, I invite you to take a look at the PRIMER
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=1418
It is a wonderful resource filled with information on APOE4 written by our member- doctor Stavia.
Another great resource is our Wiki page:
https://wiki.apoe4.info/wiki/Main_Page
This page has been created to gather and organize information in regards to health problems related to APOE4.
We would love to learn more about you, why are you interested in Apoe4?, what brings you to the site?
If you have a minute please write more about yourself. Again, welcome to our community!

My best,
Magda

[OldMainer]

Thank you Stavia and Magda for your responses. There is precious little useful information out there on flu vaccine effectiveness in special populations of all kinds.

As to CLL and immunosuppresion - "Patients with CLL commonly develop complications associated with the intrinsic immune dysfunction that results in immunodeficiency and the development of autoimmune disorders." From: https://www.uptodate.com/contents/overv ... c-leukemia

I am new to the site and still finding my way but my oncologists at DanaFarber and I have wrestled with the CLL bear for over 25 years.