It is a pathology that affects one in three adults in France, high blood pressure. Elle “corresponds to an abnormal increase in blood pressure on the artery walls”, explains Health Insurance. The latter “constitutes a major risk factor for cardio-neurovascular pathologies”. Certain factors can promote its appearance such as smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity or even alcohol consumption.
A Public Health France study looked at the link between alcohol and high blood pressure. The aim was to estimate the number of cases in France attributable to excessive alcohol consumption. According to the results of the survey, 655,000 cases of high blood pressure are linked to excessive alcohol consumption in France.
Excessive alcohol consumption may have caused 655,000 cases of hypertension in France
To arrive at these results, the researchers used data on high blood pressure from the 2015 Environmental, Biomonitoring, Physical Activity and Nutrition (Esteban) Health Study. were aged 18 to 74. The researchers also analyzed the alcohol consumption excessive, that is to say exceeding 10 glasses of alcohol per week in France. “In our study, the attributable fraction corresponds to the proportion of cases of high blood pressure that could be avoided if people who consumed more than 10 glasses of alcohol per week became abstinent,” write the authors in their methodology.
In total, Public Health France estimates that “655,000 people aged 18 to 74 in France are thought to be hypertensive due to alcohol consumption exceeding an average of 10 drinks per week”. In detail, the authors note that with 624,000 cases, men are more represented than women, who account for 31,000 cases. “The number of cases associated with an average consumption exceeding 10 glasses per week is significant”note the experts, who “recall the importance of alcohol consumption in high blood pressure and the importance of implementing primary prevention measures but also in the management of high blood pressure”.
Hypertension: researchers recommend not exceeding alcohol consumption benchmarks
In an editorial published alongside the results of the study, Caroline Semaille, Director General of Public Health France, recalls that “Alcohol remains one of the leading risk factors for illness and death in France, with more than 40,000 deaths attributable in 2015 and a social cost estimated at 102 billion euros in 2019.” Although alcohol consumption has been falling in France for 30 years, it still remains “very high”both in the general population and in certain subcategories such as pregnant women.
To limit the risk of high blood pressure, researchers recommend not exceeding the consumption benchmarks, namely 10 glasses per week maximum and not exceeding 2 glasses per day. For people with hypertension, experts recommend “reduce alcohol consumption below lower-risk consumption benchmarks”.
Various measures have been put in place to help limit alcohol consumption, such as Alcool-Info-Service, which offers online resources as well as a toll-free number, accessible every day between 8 a.m. and 2 a.m.
Sources :
- Impact of exceeding lower-risk alcohol consumption benchmarks on high blood pressure in mainland France, 2014-2016 – Weekly epidemiological bulletin, 2024
- Alcohol prevention: from science to action, Public Health France, a fully committed agency – Weekly epidemiological bulletin, 2024 (Editorial)
- High blood pressure – HTA – Health Insurance
