By Kari Richie
Springmoor Health and Fitness Director
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| Kari Richie |
Wellness is more than the absence of disease or sickness. It is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a healthy and fulfilling life. If we embrace this process and educate ourselves, we are choosing to live a lifestyle of prevention rather than treatment.
One very easy, simple way to prevent disease is to keep on top of health exams and screenings that can help detect issues before they become serious problems. Checkups can also help find problems early, when your chances for treatment and a cure are better. By getting the right health services, screenings and treatments, you are taking steps that help your chances for living a longer, healthier life. Your age, health and family history, lifestyle choices (i.e. what you eat, how active you are, whether you smoke) and other important factors impact what and how often you need healthcare.
Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community encourages residents and staff to take control of their health and well-being through our Pathways Wellness services and programs. We are pleased to be the host of an upcoming preventive health event: LifeLine Screening, a leading provider of community-based preventive health screenings, will host their affordable, non-invasive and painless health screenings on Dec. 11 at Springmoor. Five screenings will be offered that scan for potential health problems related to blocked arteries (a leading cause of stroke); abdominal aortic aneurysms (which can lead to a ruptured aorta); hardening of the arteries in the legs (which is a strong predictor of heart disease); atrial fibrillation or irregular heart beat (which is closely tied to stroke risk); and a bone density screening, for men and women, used to assess the risk of osteoporosis. Register for a Wellness Package which includes four vascular tests and an osteoporosis screening from $149 ($139 with our member discount). All five screenings take 60-90 minutes to complete. In order to register for this event and to receive a $10 discount off any package priced above $129, please call 1-888-653-6450 or visit www.lifelinescreening.com/community-partners.
Which health exams and screenings are right for you? It is best to communicate with your doctor and educate yourself through various resources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website at www.cdc.gov.
Benjamin Franklin’s famous saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” may have originally been intended for fire prevention, but today it’s a doctor’s mantra!
