THE 6TH REPORT OF THE JOINT NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON THE DETECTION, EVALUATION, AND TREATMENT OF HIGH BLOOD-PRESSURE

There has been a significant slowing in the previously remarkable decl ine in stroke and coronary heart disease deaths, whereas the incidence of heart failure and end-stage renal diseases continues to ino crease . Uncontrolled hypertension is a common denominator of these diseases. A reduction in hypertension awareness and knowledge of the need for t reatment among the C'S population is thought to be partly to blame. Th e Joint National Committee on the Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC) convened to address this problem, and th e resultant report included guidelines that hopefully will help physic ians better manage their hypertensive patients. The new recommendation s place much greater emphasis on detecting overall cardiovascular risk s and target organ diseases than the previous committee guidelines. Fo r the first time, recommendations are made, including one that says co mbination treatment for hypertension may provide additional efficacy w hile it reduces the incidence of adverse effects. It should be noted t hat the full report is a concise document that provides guidelines for hundreds of hypertension-related patient scenarios. The highlights an d major deviations from previous reports are presented in this Special Report.