Ken Kesey might have titled his 1962 novel “One Flu Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” if his characters in the hospital were laid-up with aches and fever instead of hallucinations and anxiety. And you can bet R.P. McMurphy and the rest of Nurse Ratched’s patients would have flown through the winter season a lot healthier if they’d gotten their flu shots.
Flu shots are effective 52 percent to 72 percent of the time. That protects you — and especially children, people with diabetes, the elderly and others who are most vulnerable — from complications (pneumonia is a biggie).
And now we know there are added huge benefits: Getting a flu shot slashes cardiac events, such as stroke, heart attack and even heart-related death, by 50 percent.
Yes, there are side effects (some major), but the benefits are 4,000 times greater than any of the risks. (Those odds would make you a zillionaire in Vegas.) Still, only 36 percent of Canadians and 42 percent of Americans are inoculated each year. So, if you haven’t gotten a flu shot for yourself or your children, here’s the drill:
• Everyone 6 months or older should get a vaccination.
• There are two options: an injection (uses an inert virus) that’s FOR EVERYONE; and a nasal spray (uses a live virus), which is NOT for children 6 to 24 months or adults over 50. There are other restrictions, so if you can’t handle a shot, ask your doc or pharmacist if the spray is OK for you.
Don’t be cuckoo; get protection.
The You Docs — Mehmet Oz, host of “The Dr. Oz Show” and Mike Roizen of Cleveland Clinic — are authors of “YOU: Losing Weight.” To submit questions, go to www.RealAge.com. A King Features syndicate.
