Health Investigation
In France, 30 per cent of adults and 50 per cent of older people are affected by high blood pressure. This excessively high blood pressure in the arteries can lead to strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure or dementia.
The World Health Organisation ranks high blood pressure, known as the ‘silent killer’, as the second greatest health risk, just behind smoking. Being overweight, a lack of physical activity, smoking, a diet that is too high in salt and stress are all contributing factors.
More often than not, high blood pressure presents no symptoms, making it difficult to detect. Whilst many patients are unaware that they have high blood pressure, conversely, others are wrongly classified as ‘sick’.
This is because blood pressure fluctuates constantly and can lead to misdiagnosis. A bout of stress or physical exertion can cause blood pressure to rise. Another factor that can skew the reading is the ‘white coat’ effect, linked to the stress of the consultation. In 30 per cent of cases,