Hundreds of Jacksonville women received free heart screenings at the fairgrounds Wednesday morning, organized by the nonprofit Take it to Heart.
Ingrid Davis was holding her medical forms in a line, stretching at least 50 people back on Wednesday.
“I’m getting a cholesterol test,” she said. “This is my first cholesterol test and I came out today with my sister.”
The screening also included tests to check blood pressure, blood sugar and body mass index.
Take it to Heart Executive Director Claudia Baker said it’s important for women to know that heart disease is the number one killer of women.
“The movies have conditioned us to think of a pain on the left side and something running up and down your left arm. That’s classic and it can happen,” Baker said. “But women have a much broader range of symptoms and some of them are very ambiguous. There’s jaw pain, back pain, nausea.”
Women experiencing any of these symptoms should go to a hospital right away, Baker said.
