New research shows that a flu vaccination will do more than protect against the influenza virus, but also against cardiac problems like heart attack and stroke, NBC News reported.

The researchers, lead by the University of Toronto's Dr. Jacob Udell, examined numerous flu vaccine studies while keeping tabs on patients who had suffered heart attacks of other cardiovascular problems.

Udell and his colleagues randomly assigned patients who had recently had heart attacks from four previous studies to receive a flu vaccination. Of those who were vaccinated, the patients had a 55 percent lower risk of another cardiac health issue.

The researchers published their findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"This could be a vaccine against cardiovascular events," Udell said. "In our primary results/findings, of the 6,700 patients, half got the flu vaccine and half the placebo or standard care, only a third of patients had a history of heart disease. But among those who got the flu shot, we saw a 36 percent lower risk of a major cardiac event! Not too shabby."

Participants in the six trials studied by the researchers included 6,735 patients, half men, with an average age of 67 and a third of whom with a history of heart health problems. The patients submitted to re-evaluations on average of eight-month periods after receiving the flu vaccine.

Of the 3,238 patients who received the flu vaccine, 95 (2.9 percent) developed a serious heart problem, as opposed 151 of 3,231 (4.7 percent) treated with a placebo.

"There is a lot of data that this inflammation does play a role," Udell. "We know that inflammation can trigger plaques to rupture and cause blockage of vessels, which causes heart attacks."

For this reason, the researchers noted that people who catch the flu are more likely to have a heart attack. They said the reason is likely due to the virus causing respiratory infections.

"This could be another great tool to help lower that risk even further than what we currently are doing," Udell said. "We would like to take that second bite of the apple."

Dr. William Shaffner, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, noted that the flu is clearly an illness that affects more than just the lungs. He said while he would not expect a younger person to have the same heart attack risk, it is a huge benefit to anyone middle aged or older.