Monica Martinez discovered she has some work to do to get her lung capacity where it ought to be.
The San Antonio resident, 28, took part in the InStep for Life Health Expo on Sunday at La Villita and discovered after blowing into a peak flow meter that her air flow rate is about 400 liters per minute, or about 84 percent of the recommended level for a woman of her age and height.
“I’ve never smoked (or) been exposed to second-hand smoking … so that’s surprising,” Martinez said of her result. “They said exercising or some deep-breathing exercises can help expand your lung capacity.
“I do need to improve my activity level, so that’s the key,” Martinez added with a laugh. She attended the expo with her 6-year-old niece, Avangeline, who enjoyed receiving a back massage at one of the booths.
The InStep for Life Health Expo was sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which is holding its 10-day General Conference Session in San Antonio. The conference is expected to attract 65,000 attendees, making it the largest ever held in San Antonio.The expo was the first of four the church is putting on this week in the city.
We care for our communities and we believe that we should really do all we can to extend the message of hope and wholeness, and then access to care,” said Katia G. Reinert, the church’s health director for North America. “We understand San Antonio, like any other city, has a lot of issues with noncommunicable diseases like diabetes, obesity and hypertension. This is one way that we can actually engage with the community, doing some encouragement and teaching about health education.”
In April, the church held a three-day mega clinic that attracted nearly 6,200 people to the Alamodome. About $20 million in free medical, dental and vision services were provided to attendees, many of whom had little or no health insurance.
Sunday’s event was not nearly on that scale, but it did offer various free medical services, including dental checkups, glaucoma and vision testing, diabetes-risk screening and blood-pressure evaluation. Nutrition and exercise tips also were provided. Those services will be provided at the three other free events scheduled for this week. No appointments are required.
Carlos and Sandra Cruz of Helotes came for the church’s InStep for Life 5K Fun Run, which started at 6 a.m., and stayed for the expo.
Carlos Cruz, 56, has Type 2 diabetes and hypertension but has been working on controlling both.
“Six months ago I was too bad, but right now I’m in pretty good shape,” said Cruz, who changed his diet and started exercising. He attended the expo because it’s been six months since he had his last checkup. He said his systolic blood pressure number has dropped 20 points to 175 in that span, though that’s still considered high.
Sandra Cruz, 49, doesn’t have any of her husband’s ailments but she walks with him more than 3 miles every day.
Asked what she learned at the expo, she replied, “Everything’s OK.” She then added, “Exercise more.”
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