One doctor's dream could end up saving many people's lives. Saturday people received free screenings for everything from diabetes and high cholesterol to prostate and breast cancer. And with the high cost of health care, events like the Health and Wellness Expo at Philander Smith College may be the only way some people find out about life-threatening illnesses.
Hundreds of people packed into the gym at Philander Smith College getting measured and weighed as part of free sports physicals and tested for a laundry list of conditions and illnesses. Dr. Derek Lewis said, "if you're very rich or very poor you don't have a problem. If you're in the middle you've got a problem."
Dr. Lewis says he wanted to have a mega-health event for people in the community who can't afford it and don't get government help. This is a pilot expo and it literally covers you from head to toe. Dr. Lewis said, "when we put this thing together we started at the head, that why we have determatologists... all the way to the toe, that's why we have podiatrists here."
And it covers everything in between too. State Representative Fred Allen, (D) Little Rock, found out he had prostate cancer through a church event similar to this. The free screening, usually $75 at a clinic, showed his PSA levels were too high. So he went to the doctor.
"I had a biopsy done and the biopsy revealed I had cancer," Allen told us.
And he says the early diagnosis saved his life. At this year's health expo Dr. Lewis wanted to place an emphasis on obesity since it can lead to so many other ailments. Lewis said, "if we can get people to lose weight we can help with heart attacks, diabetes, strokes. We can help with all those things."
Dr. Lewis says if the event helped diagnose just one person's disease all the work has been worth it. Next year Dr. Lewis hopes to showcase the newest procedures and medical technology of the future. You can find out more about his Derek Lewis Foundation by clicking the link next to this story.
