"Bringing movement back into our lives": stroke prevention is not up to par in France

It is the third leading cause of death in France. Strokes affect 120,000 people each year and are the focus of a report by the Court of Auditors published Tuesday evening. The body highlights considerable losses of opportunity for patients due to insufficient resources for their care, as well as inadequate prevention efforts.

Better arrangements could benefit patients, but also save the State 200 million euros per year according to the Court of Auditors.

Like many French people, Julien admits he didn't know what a stroke was. Until that November evening six years ago. His mind suddenly went blank, then "it was my leg, and it was my arm that I couldn't feel anymore. I was far from thinking it was something that was happening in my brain," he says.

Loss of speech, facial paralysis… These were all warning signs of a massive stroke that the young father suffered the following morning.

"For me, it was something that only affected older people," he confides.

He was 39 years old at the time. Since then, he has been fighting to raise awareness of the disease and its causes. Like high blood pressure , the main risk factor for stroke, explains Professor Yannick Béjot. "We know that a third of strokes could be avoided if hypertension were screened for or treated in France. But beyond these risk factors, there are all the other risk factors: smoking, high cholesterol, diabetes, etc.," he lists.

Another risk factor is a sedentary lifestyle. This is a battle being fought by Stéphane Diagana, former world champion in the 400 meters hurdles and speaker on the topic of "sport and health".

“For stroke, the WHO estimates that by respecting the recommendation for adults of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity per day, there are already health benefits. This would reduce the risk by 25%,” he says.

He insists: “The challenge is to bring activity back into our lives, which are too sedentary and not active enough. We need physical activity. We were shaped for millions of years by movement, and we stopped moving very abruptly about 200 years ago with the Industrial Revolution. And now, with the digital revolution, we're at levels of sedentary behavior that are far too high today. We need to schedule time to move during the week because it's important.”

"We need to reinvent our lifestyles and bring movement back into them," he emphasizes.

For example, by walking a little more, finishing your commute with a walk, taking the opportunity to make phone calls, etc...

Healthcare professionals lament the lack of preventative measures, as Professor of Neurology Yannick Béjot points out: "We lack a preventative policy at all ages," he argues. This point is also emphasized by the Court of Auditors, which calls for improved screening for hypertension and better public awareness campaigns about stroke.