It is the most common chronic disease in France: almost a third of French people have hypertension and yet half of them do not know it, according to figures published Tuesday by Public Health France.
France has 17 million hypertensives according to the health agency, which is based on two surveys of the general population and a survey of a panel of general practitioners and the National Health Data System.
More than 1.6 million adults start antihypertensive treatment each year, but “we must continue to explain to the French that having a balanced diet from an early age with lots of fruit and vegetables, as well as limited salt and alcohol intake, can prevent high blood pressure. blood pressure,” Valérie Olié, an epidemiologist at Public Health France, told BFMTV.
check your blood pressure regularly
Only one in two hypertensives is aware of their disease. The figure remains, according to the health agency, well below the level of knowledge reached in other European or North American countries. It is explained in particular by insufficiently effective screening, or by the difficulty of understanding and acceptance of the diagnosis by patients when the disease is announced.
“It is not that we have had 18 times of stress that we are sick”, emphasizes Alain Ducardonnet, a doctor and health consultant for BFMTV.
“What is dangerous is having high blood pressure for a long time,” with hypertension being a risk factor for stroke and heart attack.
Only by raising your blood pressure regularly can you read a trend, explains the doctor. “Blood pressure is a variable, it changes constantly and an isolated measurement is worthless.”
Ideally, “take your blood pressure three times in a row and it is this third figure that will be the most accurate because you will be familiar with taking the measurement”, which should be done several times a month.
Source: BFM TV
