Each year in France, nearly 50,000 people have a heart attack suddenly according to the Ministry of Health. Depending on the regions, French inhabitants are not all so affected.
Cardiovascular diseases represent the second cause of mortality in France, and even the first in women. Among these diseases, there is in particular ischemic heart disease. It is a narrowing of the arteries that go to the heart, the main cause of which is the heart attack. According to Public Health France, in 2022 more than 240,000 people were hospitalized for ischemic heart disease, and the previous year more than 30,000 people died.
Not all French regions are affected in the same way by these ischemic heart disease, and therefore by heart attacks. “Strong regional disparities” exist within the country, according to Public Health France, which has published an “inventory” of these territorial inequalities.
First, there are almost 50 % more hospitalizations for ischemic heart disease in Corsica than in the Pays de la Loire. The most affected regions are: Corsica, Grand-Est and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur. Conversely, the most spared are the Pays de la Loire, Brittany and Ile-de-France.
Public Health France also noted significant differences in terms of mortality due to ischemic heart disease. It was particularly high in Normandy, Hauts-de-France, Brittany or Center-Val-de-Loire. The regions where it was the lowest are: Ile-de-France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur.
But how can we explain these differences between French regions? According to Public Health France, on the scale of cardiovascular diseases, “a large part of the disparities observed can be explained by the differences in exposure to cardiovascular risk factors”, such as tobacco, alcohol, nutrition, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia or high blood pressure. All of these factors (which are mainly modifiable) are indeed at the origin of the majority of cardiovascular diseases, and in particular infarction.
