Southern Regional Medical Center provided screenings for many Health Fair participants

Atlanta, Aug 17 - By ERIC STIRGUS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/17/06

Clayton County resident Julie Fuzell went to a health fair last August hoping to get some information about Parkinson's disease for her father-in-law, who was diagnosed with the condition.

Instead, she got help that might have saved her own life.

A routine blood pressure check revealed trouble. She says the top number was 229, nearly twice the normal blood pressure level. Fuzell was hospitalized later that day.

"She could have very well gone home and had a seizure" if she didn't go to the health fair, said her husband, Kevin. "I don't think it could have been a good result."

"That's why this health fair is so important to the community," said U.S. Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), who organized last year's health fair and is having his second this Saturday.

Scott's goals include raising HIV awareness, particularly among black women, and helping people have access to affordable health care. Scott said he got the idea to organize a health fair from his wife, Alfredia, who was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago.

A 2003 study by the Governor's Office of the Consumers' Insurance Advocate found 14 percent of Clayton County's residents were medically uninsured. Clayton's uninsured rate was the second-highest in the Atlanta region, only behind Rockdale County, which came in at 19 percent. The study found 12 percent of Henry residents were medically uninsured.

A Georgia State University study estimated about 19 percent of Clayton's residents were uninsured last year.

Glenn Landers, a senior research associate for the Georgia Health Policy Center, studied Clayton and six other Atlanta-area counties to determine why the county's uninsured rate was higher than others. The researchers found nearly three of 10 Clayton households earn less than $15,000 a year.

After leaving the health fair, Fuzell, 39, got her blood pressure checked at a local Fire Department stationhouse. It was still high. She went to the hospital, where doctors induced the birth of Fuzell's daughter, Sidney.

Fuzell went through several months of physical therapy, learning how to walk and feed herself. She learned she had a potentially fatal condition called HELLP (Hemolysis Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelets). HELLP syndrome is caused by a contraction of blood vessels in the liver. The condition is rising among pregnant women.

"You just shouldn't take [your health] for granted," she said. "Because if we hadn't, it would have turned out so differently."

IF YOU'RE GOING
• U.S. Rep. David Scott's health fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Mundy's Mill High School, 9652 Fayetteville Road, Jonesboro.

• The fair will have free screenings for vision, dental, blood pressure, cholesterol and HIV. There will be cooking, fitness and CPR demonstrations. On-site enrollment for Medicare, Medicaid, PeachCare and other programs will be available.

• The guest speaker will be actress Ruby Dee.

• For more information, contact Scott's office at 770-210-5073 or www.davidscott.house.gov.