Cholesterol

Also on hand at the health fair were representatives of Aiken Heart Center, Aiken Cancer Center, the American Diabetes Association, Aiken and Orangeburg's DHEC offices, Ascension Hospice, the William J.

McCord Adolescent Center of Orangeburg, HopeHealth, Palmetto Poison Center, the National Kidney Foundation, dentist Dr.

Sherman Hickson, pharmacist Dr.

Glover Hickson, the Aiken County Fire Department and Elmcroft of Martinez.

"It's been pretty good.

We haven't sent anyone to the hospital, thank goodness," joked R.N.

Lauren Harris of Aiken Regional Medical Centers.

"We're here to let people know it's a good idea to have the blood sugar checked at least once a year, especially if there's a family history of diabetes, and to give them a chance to do that today." The Orangeburg Area Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation works in a six-county area including Aiken, Orangeburg, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun and Allendale, according to Hickson.

Among their regular tasks is visiting the DHEC offices of each county once a month to notify parents whose infants have had positive results from the mandatory sickle cell anemia testing done on newborns.

"Sickle cell anemia often goes untreated, but if you have sickle cell, you know it," Hickson said.

"It's an inherited disease in which the red blood cells are misshaped and can't carry oxygen and hemoglobin in proper a...

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