AARP, Walgreens to promote wellness with tour stop in Reidsville

The AARP/Walgreens Wellness Tour bus will be in Reidsville from noon to 6 p.m. Monday at the Walgreens store located at 603 S. Scales St. According to a news release from the drugstore chain, this bundle of six health screenings is valued at more than $140 but will be administered for free.

The visit is part of a 3,000-community, two-year national mobile health screening tour with a goal of providing more than $60 million worth of free health screenings. The tour aims to administer more than 2.5 million free screenings and is comprised of nine custom-equipped buses with dedicated staffs of Walgreens trained medical technicians. This is the fifth year Walgreens has committed to providing free health screenings through a traveling health screening campaign.

The free screenings — which include total cholesterol levels, blood pressure, bone density, glucose levels, waist circumference and body mass index — will help provide adults with a critical foundation for early disease detection and prevention. Screenings are recommended for adults ages 18 and older.

Free, one-year AARP memberships will be given to all adults who receive screenings.

By the numbers

Health screenings are a critical method for detecting potential diseases before symptoms are noticed. Of those screened during the 2008 AARP/Walgreens Wellness Tours:
• 72.8% had high blood pressure levels
• 68.2% had high body mass index
• 65.9% had low bone density
• 60.5% had a waist circumference outside of the normal range
• 38.0% had high cholesterol levels
w 13.3% had high glucose levels