Press conference to announce new cholesterol guidelines

TO: Editors and Reporters

FROM: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

SUBJ: Press conference on new cholesterol guidelines: the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults - Adult Treatment Panel III

WHEN: Tuesday, May 15, 2001, 9:30 a.m.

WHERE: Ballroom, National Press Club, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.

WHY: Coronary heart disease is the number one killer of Americans. Each year, more than a million Americans have heart attacks, and about a half million people die from heart disease. High blood cholesterol is one of the major risk factors for heart disease.

The guidelines represent the first major update from the NCEP since 1993. The report features a new risk assessment tool and includes recommendations on important public health issues such as cholesterol testing, cholesterol lowering to prevent heart disease, cholesterol lowering in those who already have heart disease, lifestyle changes to lower risk, and drug therapy.

The NHLBI will unveil new interactive tools to help physicians and consumers understand and follow the recommendations of the ATP III panel.

WHO: Claude Lenfant, M.D., Director, NHLBI
Scott M. Grundy, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman of ATP III and Director, Center for Human Nutrition,
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas
James I. Cleeman, M.D., Coordinator, National Cholesterol Education Program

Additional information on cholesterol and the NCEP is available at the NHLBI Web site at www.nhlbi.nih.gov.