It’s World High Blood Pressure Day, and a lot remains to be done in France. One in three adults suffers from this pathology, ie 15 million people who represent only the submerged part of the iceberg, for lack of sufficient screening.
Today, arterial hypertension (HTA) affects 15 million people in France, or nearly one in three adults. According to study Esteban recently published by Public Health France, 36% of adult men are hypertensive today, against 25% of women.
60% of people over 65 suffer from this pathology; figures which climb to 80% among the over 80s.
A silent and unrecognized disease
Disturbing statistics, especially when we know that many French people suffer from hypertension without knowing it. If more than 84% of people declared to Public Health France having had a blood pressure measurement in the year preceding their health examination, only 1 in 2 (55%) knew of their hypertension among hypertensive people. This proportion was higher for women (62.9%) than for men (50.1%). And among hypertensive people declaring to be aware of their hypertension, nearly 30% were not treated with an anti-hypertensive drug.
Major risk factor for cardiovascular complications
However, arterial hypertension constitutes a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (coronary insufficiency, stroke, renal failure, heart failure, arterial aneurysm, aortic dissection, arrhythmia, dementia, etc.) …
Professionals even call her the “silent killer”, adds Professor Claire Mounier-Vehier, cardiologist and president of the French Federation of Cardiology, before continuing: “the disease is most often silent but can manifest itself by a set of non-specific symptoms: fatigue, morning headaches, dizziness, flies in the eyes, ringing in the ears, palpitations, trouble concentrating or even a feeling of tightness in the chest are all signs of the disease.
These are not specific symptoms, but these signs, when combined, should alert and push to consult your doctor or even your pharmacist, for a screening test. However, most people do not pay attention and do not imagine that their symptoms are related to hypertension, which explains why many hypertensive people have not yet been diagnosed “.
Therapeutic care
Since 2006, in France, neither the reduction in the frequency of hypertension, nor the improvement in its screening and management have been demonstrated. In women, the therapeutic management of this pathology even deteriorated over the period.
The management of hypertension however requires simple hygienic-dietetic measures (weight loss, reduction of nutritional salt intake, sedentary lifestyle, etc.) and / or the prescription of an anti-hypertensive treatment.
These measures have largely demonstrated their effectiveness on mortality and cardiovascular complications in numerous therapeutic trials with, in particular, a reduction of 7% and 10% in the risk of mortality from coronary insufficiency and cerebrovascular accident.
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