Aired Thursday, May 2, 2002 at 10 pm

Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. High blood pressure directly increases the risk of coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack and stroke, along with other risk factors. Pressure Point looks at what high blood pressure is, what causes it and how to prevent it. The program also looks at other related health problems. U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher is among the experts interviewed, as is a young female doctor who had a heart attack bought on by hypertension.

Three panels, with national as well as local experts, participate in the program.

The first panel, which will discuss the characteriatics of hypertension, consists of:
Martha Hill, RN, PhD, Professor and Interim Dean of Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and the former President of the American Heart Association;
Dr. Keith Ferdinand, Medical Director, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology, Xavier University of New Orleans and former chairman of the American Black Cardiologists;
Dr. James Pruden, Chief of Emergency Medicine at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson;
Dr. Daniel Levy, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School--Framingham Heart Study.

The second panel discusses the "Trenton- A City with Heart" project which is a pilot program sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb, designed to educate, engage and empower Trenton's diverse population to control high blood pressure. The panel consists of:
Doug Palmer, Mayor of Trentom;
April Aaronson from Trenton's Department of Health;
George Heyirch, M.D. Director, Cardiac Catherization Lab, Capital Health Systems;
Susan Bakewell-Sachs, RN and Dean College of New Jersey School of Nursing.

The third panel looks at a video segment about a doctor who had a heart attack but didn't realize what was happening and took some antacids. The segment also looks at a program at Rutgers--Freshman Fifteen-- that attempts to teach students to eat in a healthy manner because freshmen typically gain at least 15 pounds when they get to college. The panel also discuss what measures people can take to prevent or control high blood pressure. Panelists for the third panel include:
Dr. George Mensah, M.D., CV Health Branch, CDC;
Martha Hill;
Keith Ferdinand; and a patient.

The program is hosted by NJN Health and Medical Correspondent Sara Lee Kessler.

This program is made possible by funding from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.