Hospital staff employee Marla Cantway was the first-friendly face that people saw when they visited the Expo last Friday.
Dr. Muhammad Gondal’s office in the Cave-Bland Medical Complex, located off of Wallace Avenue in Leitchfield, was the site for the free event this year. From 2-4:30 p.m. area residents could visit and take part in a variety of tests involving statistics on one’s own personal health status.
Twin Lakes Director of Planning and Marketing Bill Oldham talked about some of the services offered to the public on that day.
“Participants took advantage of health screenings including breathing function,” Oldham explained, “blood pressure, oxygen saturation, glucose and carotid artery ultrasound. A lipid cholesterol screening was offered for a small fee. Exhibitors had information on cancer, nutrition, exercise/fitness, pulmonology testing, smoking cessation, and diabetes among others. Roni Mudd from Grayson County Health Department was on hand to show people the effects smoking has on their health and provided information on how to stop smoking for those interested.”
The biggest participation for the event involved people getting a carotid ultrasound test. According to Oldham, the test shows whether plaque (fat, cholesterol, calcium and other substances found in the blood) have built up in the carotid arteries.
Of the 85 participants scanned, 50 percent of those had some amount of plaque.
Twin Lakes Director of Cardiopulmonary Services Robin Embry felt the Healthy Heart Expo move to the hospital was more beneficial for everyone.
“The turnout was great and people appreciated what the staff was doing for them,” Embry said. “In the past we had to drive equipment and people to the Expo. It was much more convenient to have it at the hospital. Events like the Expo fit into our mission of improving the quality of life for the people we serve. We are pleased to be able to offer events like this to the community.”
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