As a member of Merit Health River Region’s Senior Circle, Rosemary Spears heard about and flocked to the Vicksburg Mall for vital health information.

The Vicksburg Health Network, which is a collective of health care workers in Vicksburg and surrounding areas, hosted its fifth annual Senior Health Expo. About 40 booths were arranged in the center of the mall including Acadian, St. Joseph, St. Dominic’s, Hometown Medical and the Warren-Yazoo Mental Health Service.

Spears attended the expo in Vicksburg for the first time Tuesday, having previously visited health expos in Jackson. She acknowledged that while seniors have health care providers it’s up to the individual to take care of their own body.

“Doctors can only do so much and then the other part is on you,” Spears said. “It’s an awareness of the things we need to check as we get older. We do know the body does go on the downhill as you get older so we have to do the things we need to, to keep us in check.”

While touring the expo, she picked up the importance of having a healthy heart, drinking plenty of water and exercise. To combat her high blood pressure, she’s taken up walking five times a week at the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Spears enjoyed the free screenings at the expo and wished the expo came more frequently than its annual visit. She waited, along with the dozens of other patients, to get their oxygen level, pulse, blood pressure and blood sugar checked by Natalie Noble of Gentiva Home Health.

Noble, who is the home health specialist, said patients often questioned the normalcy of their results, which sparked great conversation on what is a healthy range for blood pressure and blood sugar.

“I think it did great with us being here to be able to educate them a little bit and let them know some of their options of what they have to go to when they need extra help,” Noble said.

A normal blood pressure reading is 120/80 and registered nurse Teresa Clark added the normal reading for blood sugar is between 80 and 120 for non-diabetics.

Clark said it isn’t difficult for seniors who suffer from metabolic diseases like high blood sugar to maintain their health.

“If they take their medication or they go by their diet, especially if they stay off the preprocessed foods and salt, they’ll be alright,” Clark said.

Clark dispelled the notion of pork and meat in a diet being bad and instead shifted the focus from meat to the seasoning used for flavor. She added that seasoning and the methods used to cook the food – frying instead of baking – are sure-fire ways for blood pressure and sugar levels to increase.

“That’s why here in the South you have a big concentration of patients that are on dialysis that have high blood pressure and diabetes. It’s because of what we put on our food,” Clark said. “We season it with lards and gravies. We’re just setting ourselves up for failure.”