More than 650,000 adults in mainland Europe, mainly men, suffer from high blood pressure due to alcohol consumption exceeding an average of 10 drinks per week, according to a study published Tuesday by Public Health Europe.
In Europe, around one in three adults is hypertensive, or around 17 million people. Several risk factors have been identified, such as age, family history, low physical activity, a diet high in salt and low in fruits and vegetables, obesity but also alcohol consumption.
To better measure the weight of alcohol, Public Health Europe sought to estimate the number of cases of hypertension attributable to consumption exceeding the recommended limits among 18-74 year olds.
An important difference between men and women
To limit the health impact of alcohol, lower-risk consumption benchmarks (maximum 10 drinks per week, maximum two drinks per day, and days of the week without consumption) have been defined since 2017 and communicated regularly Since.
Some 655,000 cases of high blood pressure before the age of 75″would be linked to alcohol consumption exceeding an average of 10 drinks per week in mainland Europe“, including 624,000 men and 31,000 women, estimates the study published in a weekly epidemiological bulletin. In the absence of recent data on the frequency of hypertension Overseas, the study is limited to mainland Europe.
The “significant difference” between men and women results mainly, according to the researchers, from greater alcohol consumption by men compared to women, but also from episodes of binge drinking and heavy drinking that are more frequent among some than among others.
More than 40,000 deaths attributable to alcohol
Although they recognize certain methodological limits to their study, its authors see it as “a minimum estimate of cases of high blood pressure attributable to alcohol consumption which turns out to be very high, and based on two robust and representative surveys of the French population, the Esteban health examination survey and the Health Barometer public Europe“.
Faced with these results, the health agency emphasizes the importance of preventing alcohol consumption but also of managing hypertension.
Alcohol remains one of the leading risk factors for illness and death in Europe, with more than 40,000 attributable deaths. In addition to cardiovascular risks and cirrhosis, the consumption of alcoholic beverages increases the risk of certain cancers.
“Although the French have reduced their alcohol consumption over the past thirty years, consumption levels remain very high (…) both in the general population and among certain subpopulations, such as pregnant women.“, recalls the Director General of Public Health Europe, Caroline Semaille, in an editorial overseeing this epidemiological bulletin.
