Much like the U.S., Europe is waging its own battle with obesity-related health disorders, one of the most prevalent of which is hypertension, or as it’s better known, high blood pressure.   

In 2008’s landmark IMMIDIET European population study, patient data collected across the EU indicated that high blood pressure had become more common in Italy than in England or Belgium, that general awareness of the condition was limited, and that those who were diagnosed did not adequately manage their condition.
 
The study, published in the Journal of Hypertension, found 24% of study participants to be hypertensive, with 56% of those unaware of their condition and one-third receiving treatment. Among those who had been diagnosed with high blood pressure, less than half had managed to bring down their blood pressure to acceptable levels. Researchers cited the loss of traditional healthy food habits and the ongoing changes of lifestyle habits as likely culprits.
 
At the time the report was released, one of IMMIDIET’s lead researchers, Dr. Licia Iacoviello of  Catholic University of Campobasso in Italy, feared Europe to be “facing a dangerous situation,” and deemed hypertension “a critical causative factor for serious diseases like heart attack and stroke,” that continued to be “grossly underestimated.”
 
Dr. Iacoviello went on to call for “urgent and intensive initiatives” in the fight against growing rates of hypertension in Europe with the goal of controlling the “threat.”

Dr. Iacoviello’s colleague, professor Francesco Cappuccio of the University of Warwick in the U.K., concurred and added that the IMMIDIET data effectively called for “an integrated action not only on better management of hypertension but on the implementation of widespread strategies for the prevention of it in the first place.”
 
At a more recent meeting of the European Society of Hypertension this past June,attendees learned via the 2011 UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline for hypertension that concern for increasing rates of hypertension is still warranted and “treating hypertension with first-line therapies is now cheaper than doing nothing.”
 
A new study from Frost & Sullivan lent credence to Europe’s ongoing, multifaceted fight against hypertension. Citing the rising incidence of problems related to high blood pressure, as well as the gravitation toward preventive healthcare, analysts said the European market for nutritional solutions in antihypertensive health is flush with opportunity.
 
“Ingredients manufacturers in this space are cashing in on the growing awareness of the potential of immune health ingredients in preventing flu-like symptoms and respiratory infections,” the analysts found. “In particular, health ingredients that offer cholesterol- and blood pressure-lowering benefits are poised to pick up traction. Although blood pressure lowering ingredients are not currently very popular, they are expected to slowly catch up due to improving consumer awareness.”
 
“The sheer extent at which cardiovascular disease (CVD) affects the population in Europe, including those with hypertension, offers significant opportunities for ingredient manufacturers,” stated Sneha Pasricha, Frost & Sullivan’s senior research analyst.
 
However, the preference for traditional modes of lowering blood pressure such as exercise, weight management, salt reduction, and drugs such as diuretics, beta-blockers, angiotensive converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, calcium channel blockers or vasodilators is hindering market momentum.
 
“Besides, regulatory issues pertaining to health claims are limiting innovation and growth in the European Market for Nutritional Solutions in Immune and Antihypertensive Health, like any other health ingredient market in the region,” noted Ms. Pasricha. “Health claim regulations in Europe are getting increasingly complex and vague with the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation adopted in 2006.”

Ms. Pasricha went on to add that steps by European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) directed at bringing clarity on the criteria required for positive scientific opinion from the organization with respect to health claims would likely encourage market innovation.
 
Like anti-hypertensive ingredients, the European market for immune ingredients is also poised for growth. Frost & Sullivan pointed to the swine flu epidemic that besieged Europe and the U.S. to be one of the leading factors responsible for boosting consumer interest in maintaining a healthy immune system.
 
A factor challenging the immune health ingredients segment has been the market competition from ingredients outside of the category that have been positioned as also having immune-boosting properties. For instance, probiotics and prebiotics were projected primarily as providers of digestive health benefits rather than positive immune health advantages. Frost & Sullivan asserted that such a scenario created confusion in the minds of consumers and dissuaded them from buying such ingredients.
 
“Manufacturers must make efforts to ramp up awareness levels among consumers about the scientific-backing and the mode of action of their immune and anti-hypertensive health ingredients,” she said. “Proactive research initiatives by manufacturers supporting their ingredients’ efficacy, empowered with apt promotional efforts could prove instrumental in increasing consumer/customer trust and acceptance.”
 
Frost & Sullivan’s “European Market for Nutritional Solutions in Immune and Antihypertensive Health” report calculated the combined market revenues for European antihypertensive and immune ingredients to be nearly $578 million in 2009, and estimated that the markets would grow to reach a combined total of $839 million by 2016.