In 2022, more than a million French people were hospitalized for a cardio-necked disease, of which 140,000 did not survive. These pathologies, which include infarction, stroke and heart failure, represent the Second cause of mortality In France. But behind this national observation are hidden glaring differences according to the territoriesas France has just shown France in an unprecedented inventory, up to the infrared level.
Corsica, Grand Est, Réunion, Guyana, Brittany or Martinique: the cards are overwhelming. For the first time, health authorities have published a precise mapping of the cardio-neurovascular burden on the scale of EPCI (public establishments for inter-municipal cooperation). The study reveals major disparities, linked to avoidable risk factors, an unequal care offer and still too shy prevention.
Persistent and massive geographic inequalities
There national hides deep differences. For them Ischemic heart disease459 people per 100,000 are hospitalized each year in France. This figure goes up to:
- 577 in Corsica;
- 563 in the Grand Est;
- 554 in Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur;
- 519 in Occitania;
- 491 in Reunion.
Conversely, the rates are much lower in the Pays de la Loire (389)there Martinique (235) or the Guadeloupe (238).
The observation is similar for Stroke : the national average is 231 hospitalizations for 100,000 inhabitantsbut reached up to 384 in certain ultra-marine territorieswhere the rates of mortality exceed 90 deaths per 100,000against 58 in mainland France.
The study also notes that “standardized heart failure rates exceed 400 per 100,000»In Hauts-de-France,, Normandy And Reunionagainst a national average of 344.
Well identified risk factors
These regional differences are partly explained by a different exposure to risk factors. As Santé Public France points out, this includes smoking, sedentary lifestyle, diet, hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia.
In the Beh specialized devoted to these figuresGérard Helft (Cardiology Institute, Pitié-Salpêtrière) recalls:
“The prevalence of risk factors is high: 30 % for high blood pressure, 25 % for smoking, 23 % for hypercholesterolemia”.
And he insists:
“Almost 45 % of hypertensive unaware of their illness, which makes prevention even more crucial”.
Data also show that The most socially disadvantaged municipalities are those where The incidence is the strongestwith a report of 1.35 Between the most precarious and most favored areas.
A prevention still too low in the face of the challenge
Faced with these figures, Public health France calls for strong action. The health agency relaunches a campaign around the New Nutri-Scoreafter a study demonstrating that:
“In people consuming a smaller nutritional diet, as evaluated by the Nutri-Score algorithm, the risk of cardio-necked disease is increased”.
The Beh editorial, signed by Caroline Semaille, Director of Public Health France, is unequivocal:
“The burden of cardio-necuscular diseases is not inevitable. Prevention must be at the heart of our actions to age in better health”.
Among the priority tracks mentioned:
- Massive training in rescue gestures for heart stops;
- Reinforced screenings for hypertension and diabetes;
- Deployment of heart courses on a national scale;
- Adaptation of public policies at the local level, thanks to the new infra-information data available on the Odissé platform.
Cardio-necusal diseases continue to strike heavily, but unevenly depending on the territories. Thanks to this new fine cartography, the levers of action are now better identified. It remains to transform this data into targeted prevention policies, so that the postal code is no longer an aggravating factor in health. The fight against these pathologies goes more than ever through a collective mobilization, from the local to the national.