ULM’s School of Pharmacy hosted a health fair on Thursday to celebrate American Heart Month and educate people on heart disease with tips to prevent it.

“I thought that this was an amazing event to have,” freshman toxicology major Erika McCrystal said. “Each station at the health fair provides free health care services to prevent heart-related illnesses.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the leading cause of death for Americans is heart disease, with over 600,000 victims.

According to pharmacy students, heart disease is preventable, but not everyone is knowledgeable about the disease. 

“We hold a health fair to promote awareness towards heart issues and to teach patients about blood pressure, A1C, BMI and cholesterol and how it can cause heart issues,” graduate student Korel Chisley said.

Several organizations within the School of Pharmacy participated in this event to help spread awareness. 

The Louisiana Independent Pharmacies Association (LIPA) tested cholesterol with a test kit as well as taught about lifestyle modifications for heart health. 

The Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPha) and the College of Pharmacy’s American Pharmacist Association (APhA) took people’s blood pressure and did glucose testing. 

There were several boards set up around the event for people to read at their leisure with each covering a different topic on heart health. Pharmacists and pharmacy students were around to test or answer any questions.

“Part of why we hold this fair is to educate and spread awareness of the warning signs and factors of stroke,” graduate student Luke Gorman said. “Today we provided free screenings to test patients’ blood pressure to see if it is at an appropriate number or to see if they need to modify their lifestyle to fix it.”

The ULM School of Pharmacy’s health fair provided an opportunity for students to learn about heart health by getting tested and discovering ways to prevent heart disease. 

The fair also gave pharmacy students a practical opportunity to use what they learn in their classes by providing healthcare for students.