Blood Pressure Screenings Offered to Gateway Students, Employees

The nursing faculty of Gateway Community & Technical College will offer free blood pressure screenings to students from 1-3 p.m. Feb. 19 in Room 213 at the Edgewood Campus and 1-3 p.m. Feb. 26 in the HR Conference Room on the second floor of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing on the Boone Campus.

All participants will be entered in a prize drawing to win a $25 Visa gift card. The screening is available to any student, especially those who may have had borderline or high results during an earlier screening in November.

High blood pressure is called the "silent killer" because it often has no warning signs or symptoms, and many people don't realize they have it. The Get Heart Smart screening program allows participants the opportunity to become aware of their blood pressure number and learn how they can help decrease their chance of heart disease through lifestyle changes such as increasing physical activity or decreasing the amount of sodium in their diet.

Heart disease is the leading causes of death in men and women in the United States. There are several risk factors that contribute to heart disease; many can be modified by changes in some health habits.
Key risk factors for heart disease include smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high triglyceride levels, obesity, physical inactivity, and diabetes and pre-diabetes.