GAINESVILLE, Fla.— Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan will be the first woman screened at the Second Annual Women’s Heart Health Fair In Memory of Joyce Pokorny at  9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008, at the Thelma Boltin Center.

The fair will offer free heart health screenings for the first 250 women, including blood pressure, cholesterol level checks, and provide women with information and lifestyle coaching about ways to reduce their risk for heart disease.

The event, sponsored by the College of Health and Human Performance, Cloud 9 Salon and Spa, Gainesville Health and Fitness, McTureous Chiropractic and Dr. Chad Werch, is designed to increase knowledge about women’s heart disease and identify women with cardiac risk factors through free heart health screenings.

Steven Pokorny, assistant professor in the Department of Health Education and Behavior, organized the event in memory of his wife, Joyce. On Dec. 2, 2006, Joyce suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 43.

“If we can get women screened and make them aware of their risk factors, maybe it will help one or two other people to get appropriate medical attention before it’s too late,” Steve said.

According to the Center for Disease Control, heart attacks kill six times as many women as breast cancer each year, yet most women don’t take their risk of heart disease seriously. Heart disease is a lifelong condition; once you get it, you will always have it. It is important to take action now to prevent a heart attack.

“I am a prevention scientist, and here is an issue that is a leading cause of death among women,” Steve said. “We’ve done a good job educating women about breast cancer, but we need to do more to inform women about a bigger threat, heart disease.”

According to the National Institute of Health, heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the United States. However, only 13 percent of women are aware that heart disease is a major threat to their health. Heart disease is often referred to as “the silent killer.”