The press conference will be held at 11:00 a.m. in Ballroom A of the Washington Marriott Hotel at 1221 22nd Street, N.W., Washington, DC.

High blood pressure affects about 50 million Americans. It is a major risk factor for heart disease and the chief risk factor for stroke--the Nation's first and third leading causes of death, respectively.

The NHLBI is one of the National Institutes of Health. The new recommendations were developed by a special committee of the National High Blood Pressure Education Program (NHBPEP), which the NHLBI coordinates. NHBPEP is a coalition of Federal agencies, state health departments, and national organizations.

The Sixth Report of the Joint National Committee (JNC) on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure was undertaken because of scientific findings made since the issuance of the last guidelines in October 1992.

Speakers at the press conference will be:

• Claude Lenfant, MD, Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD
• Sheldon G. Sheps, MD, Chair, JNC VI, and Chair, Division of Hypertension and Internal Medicine, Mayo Medical School and Clinic, Rochester, MN
• Edward J. Roccella, PhD, MPH, NHBPEP Coordinator, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD

The press conference is being held in conjunction with meetings of the NHBPEP's Coordinating Committee on November 6-7 at the Washington Marriott.

For more information, contact the NHLBI Communications Office at (301) 496-4236.