ASHLAND, Ky. — King’s Daughters Medical Center is offering a free healthy heart with EKG screening beginning at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4 and Oct. 18 at the Kentucky Heart Institute offices in Suite 230, Medical Plaza B, 613 23rd St., Ashland.

A Kentucky Heart Institute specialist will review screening results.

The screening, which includes an EKG, total cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and blood oxygen levels, is sponsored by King’s Daughters in cooperation with the Kentucky Heart Foundation. Appointments are required and may be made by calling 1-888-377-KDMC (5362). Fasting is not required.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., accounting for more than 34 percent of all deaths annually. Every 38 seconds, an American dies of cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association.

It also is used to check the health of the heart, especially when conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes are present.

The screening is recommended for persons age 50 and older, as well as those younger than 50 with risk factors, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Additional screening criteria may apply, which allow us to see those at greatest risk for heart disease.

This program is sponsored, in part, by grant funding from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky’s Healthy Futures Initiative and the Social Innovation Fund of the Corporation for National and Community Service.