E03 | Health Investigation | High Blood Pressure: Cold-blooded Killer

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, high blood pressure may be caused by this phenomenon, leading some patients to take medication unnecessarily. Another issue is that there is no consensus within the scientific community on treatment thresholds. In France, high blood pressure is defined as a reading above 14 for the first number or above 9 for the second. But in the United States, in November 2017, the American College of Cardiology decided to lower the threshold to 13/8. As a result, nearly half of all American adults were suddenly classified as having high blood pressure! Is high blood pressure inevitable? Can it be prevented and treated?