They are trying to decide, again, if treating older adults is good for their health. This time it's about flu shots. The information is that if you get a flu shot, you have 1/2 to 1/3 the chance of getting the flu compared to not getting the shot. If you get the flu, and you're frail medically, you may get pneumonia. Older folks die of pneumonia. But the new data suggests that despite 50% increase in getting the shot, deaths are not reduced.
So the conclusion is: gettting the shot reduces the risk of flu, and the severity of the flu if you get it. It may not make you live any longer. You might enjoy the time you have left more without the flu.
In Italy they have identified smoking as causing more damage to the hearts of women, at an earlier age than it does men. The rate of disease is different for women because in the past fewer women smoked than men. Now women are catching up because of the ad campaigns aimed at women in the seventies and eighties- and the smoking behavior of younger women. Quit now- it has immediate positive effects. And get your flu shot.