Camille Moreau / Credits: Pixabay
A study published this Wednesday by Public Health France establishes for the very first time a link between excessive alcohol intake and the development of high blood pressure. This concerns one in three adults in France. The cause is a poor diet, a lack of exercise but also an alcohol intake higher than public health recommendations.
Notice to alcohol consumers! A study published this Wednesday by Public Health France establishes for the very first time a link between excessive alcohol intake and the development of high blood pressure. This concerns one in three adults in France. The cause is a poor diet, a lack of exercise but also an alcohol intake higher than public health recommendations. Of the 17 million French people who suffer from hypertension, nearly 700,000 owe their illness to overconsumption of alcohol. Concretely, they exceed the limit of 10 drinks per week.
Reversible hypertension
According to doctors, alcohol increases the heart rate, which can cause a spike in blood pressure within 12 to 24 hours after drinking. This phenomenon mainly affects men. “Men consume much more alcohol than women and men exceed the low-risk threshold much more often than women. But we know that those who consume 20 drinks per week will have much more hypertension than those who consume 10 glasses. Those who consume 30 glasses will have more hypertension than 20 glasses”, explains to Europe 1, Jaques Blacher, cardiologist and co-author of the study.
The cardiologist adds that alcohol-related hypertension is reversible. All you have to do is go back below the threshold of 10 drinks per week or stop drinking. Thanks to this new habit, some patients no longer even need medication.