Coronavirus shot can help fight cancer, chronic pain … and even Alzheimer’s

Joan Wakefield has barely been able to walk for most of six months. The 72-year-old from Stockport had a knee replacement in October and has since suffered from infections in the scar tissue, causing painful pain.

Then she received the first dose of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine at the beginning of this month. “I woke up the next morning and the leg pain and stiffness were gone,” she says.

‘I could not believe it. I joked with my partner about whether the vaccine had anything to do with it. Before, I couldn’t even bend my leg. Now I can slide it out all the way and even put on my shoes and socks. I am optimistic that I can return to work sooner rather than later. ‘

It seems ridiculous – a vaccine designed to protect against one virus can somehow improve other completely unrelated elements of health.

But Joan Wakefield is far from alone.

Last month, Mail on Sunday GP Ellie Cannon wrote about the curious case of a man with Lyme disease who found his prolonged fatigue had evaporated just days after he received the Covid vaccine. Dozens of you signed up to tell similar wonderful stories.

Stubborn spots of eczema on her arms, legs and diaphragm have been seen mysteriously disappearing within hours of getting the shot. Another claimed that the dizzying fear of heights she had fought for 25 years disappeared four days after her shot.

Meanwhile, a woman wrote that her husband enjoyed a full night’s sleep for the first time since his diagnosis of a sleep disorder 15 years ago. Even more bizarre, some claimed they were left in better health after contracting the virus themselves.

A 95-year-old resident of a nursing home was described by her daughter as suddenly ‘alert and alive’ after having Covid last month.

‘Mother used to be very weak, she lost weight and her voice lost strength. We were prepared that the end would not be far away, ‘wrote Roz Ellis from Ilford, Essex.

Four weeks after she recovered from Covid, her voice is stronger. She’s standing in front of the window for ten minutes and she’s put on 3 pounds. ‘

Most readers suspect that the shot – or infection itself – triggered the immune system to kick in and attack other gnawing health problems. And maybe they are right. Scientists have been documenting unexpected benefits of vaccines for decades – medically known as ‘non-specific effects’.

Research in the 1970s and 1980s by Danish scientist Peter Aaby found that mass measles vaccination in West African communities reduced the risk of infant mortality by a third – but only four percent of this decrease was explained by more people who survived measles.

Also in the 1970s, Russian scientists found that vaccination of the population against polio reduced death from flu and other infections by as much as 80 percent.

More recently, Dutch and Greek researchers have reported astonishing early results from studies examining whether giving the elderly a vaccine against the bacterial infection tuberculosis – the BGC shot – could protect against other common infections that often affect the vulnerable and vulnerable. end up in hospital.

In the placebo group, almost twice as many infections were seen as in the vaccinated participants.

And the BCG vaccine is already being used to treat bladder cancer patients with noninvasive tumors – it’s delivered directly into the bladder to help the immune system fight the cancer.

In addition, bladder cancer patients who receive this therapy are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, according to a recent Israeli study. But why?

Scientists are unsure about the exact mechanism. Indeed, some suggest that vaccines can ‘train’ and boost the immune system.

But Professor Sheena Cruickshank, immunologist from the University of Manchester, does not endorse this theory and insists there is another explanation.

She says, ‘The protection we see from other health problems in those who have had measles and BCG vaccines is an advantage of not having suffered from those diseases in younger years.

‘Suffering from measles, tuberculosis or other infections that we vaccinate against can have long-term harmful effects on our immune system.’

Studies show they weaken the response to threats and cause systemic inflammation. Over time, this increases the risk of many diseases.

‘As a result, people who have been vaccinated against these infections will in turn be less likely to develop other diseases.’

As for those who are going through a miraculous recovery from the Covid-19 shot, Prof. Cruickshank says the explanation lies in our emotional response to it. “The pandemic has been extremely stressful and we often underestimate the effect of stress on our immune system,” she says.

She explains that increased stress hormones interfere with immune cells’ ability to target infections. She says, “That’s why we tend to get a bad cold or contract bacterial infections when we’re stressed and exhausted.

‘It is also this reaction that leads to a flare-up of inflammatory conditions such as eczema in vulnerable people – because the immune system becomes confused.’

Dr. Cruickshank suspects the vaccine will provide relief for many, lowering stress levels immediately. The beneficial effect on the immune system can be direct. It’s amazing, ”she adds.

She also emphasizes that the type of vaccine used to prevent Covid-19 is significantly different from those in previous studies.

The measles and tuberculosis injections are all so-called ‘live’ vaccines.

“It’s about injecting a miniscule amount of a weakened version of the virus or bacteria that causes the disease.

This helps the immune system recognize it when it sees it in larger doses so that it responds more quickly.

But all Covid-19 vaccines don’t work by injecting viral particles, but by the genetic instructions that our immune cells need to make a small fraction of them.

“It is unlikely that it will have any effect on immune cells for which they are not specifically designed.”

Joan Wakefield has no doubts about the cure for her cracking knee. She writes, ‘Once I read that other people saw miraculous effects from the vaccine, it all made sense.

“I fully believe this is the case with me.”