Screening at the Health and Wellness Fair
It is 2022, the last Thursday in September. After Senior Boot Camp, Kathryn and I, along with some other members of the class, check out the Health and Wellness Fair being held at the fabulous Rancho Cucamonga Community Center. We sign up and receive raffle tickets. There are over 100 vendors for such health-related services as dentists, hospices, a shoe store, and many insurance agents eager to help us find the best Medicare Advantage plan offered by the companies they represent. We are given tchotchkes including pens, notepads, and rubber sheets to help opening jars. Many tables are handing out candy and cookies. Exactly one offers a healthy snack, fruit cups featuring melons and grapes.
One table has two laptop computers set up to perform two kinds of health scans, both by just inserting a forefinger into a sensor similar to a pulse oximeter. One purports to detect osteoporosis. The other is for arterial health. Kathryn and I both opt for the one for arterial health. One at at time, we let them scan our fingers for about two minutes. At the end, they review the results, which are unbelievably detailed. They include the expected pulse rate and oxygen saturation level, which I take at home every day with my oximeter. They also detect at least three completely different measures of stress, and categorize our circulatory systems into one of at least six ratings. Kathryn is type 6, and I am type 3, which is better. They offer to send these results to our primary care physicians, in case they want to schedule further tests.
I wonder how they do it! They just have one finger to sense. I understand pulse. They get oxygen level by shining a light through the finger and detecting the color. This is standard, although known to be unreliable for dark skinned people. I guess they could also detect temperature and moisture of the skin, but I don’t think they do. How do they get all these detailed results?
I access the vendor’s website, looking for an explanation. There is no information on how the tests work. They have several packages of health scans to sell, at prices ranging from $149 for cancer screening, to $298 per hour for full body ultrasound health screening. No insurance needed! Credit cards accepted!
It is 2022, the last Thursday in September. Chris is done leading his classes at the Senior Center for the morning. Tuesdays and Thursdays, he teaches Senior Boot Camp, a 30-minute high intensity class that uses weights, mats, steps, and big soft exercise balls, with modest amounts of stretching and cardio exercises. He follows this immediately with Sit & Be Fit, an hour long class designed to maintain muscle tone throughout the body while working out in chairs. He is a certified personal trainer, and often helps out at the gym. At 6’2”, Chris is a former high school football player who cuts a fine figure for his age. Can we just stipulate that Chris is in terrific condition?
Chris visits the Health and Wellness Fair and takes the arterial health scan. It results in a warning about his arterial health, and the suggestion that he should exercise more.
