Full-body CT (or MRI) scan: useful, or a bad idea?

Hi! 

We went through Prenuvo and had a fantastic experience. If there are findings that are major they will contact you within a week, otherwise it's a 3 week wait for results. They go through everything and give you very informative information about your body that you may not have known about yourself that's different than the average human. They also go through and report findings that are fairly insignificant but over the long term could become significant. And of course anything that should be dealt with relatively soon and/or immediately. Overall, they do not make whales out of minnows but are extremely informative about you as a whole.

For us, we have been experiencing issues what we wanted answers on. However, it doubles as a data check point for us as we age. This will help us know if there is a change about how long it's been there and just be more aware of our health. We personally think full body MRIs should be the normal every few years for every person as a preventative measure... Maybe some day we will get there. CT scans are cheaper but have exposure to radiation. There is little to no risk during an MRI as long as you don't have bunch of metal in your body. So please think about that when choosing between the two.

We did opt for the full body scan which was a pretty penny but absolutely worth it. My husband has been experiencing pain and has had x-rays and ultrasounds and even did rounds of physical therapy when we had no answers to why there was pain. The scanned showed a the issue and it was missed under x-rays and ultrasounds due to it's location and a bone overtop of it.

For myself, I have been experiencing years of unexplained symptoms that over the last 6 months have gotten increasingly worse. I was tried of all the testing that didn't show anything major and having the wait, watch and see approach. During my scans we found two reasons why I'm experiencing my symptoms and I'm on to a different doctor and a treatment plan! 

We also went through Inside Tracker for indepth blood work which also pointed out what my scans found.

We plan to do more scans in the future but due to the price it won't be for several years. I can not say enough about the experience and highly recommend it to anyone. After that scan is completed you are given coupon codes for I believe $250 off a scan to share with someone else. Please let me know if you'd like one.

If you are having symptoms there is some urgency in pushing for a diagnosis with your doctor.

CT scans, especially repeated ones, and full body ones have some risk. https://www.fda.gov/radiation-emitting-products/medical-x-ray-imaging/w…

I did have an experience where cancer was missed for about a year, leading to a need for more invasive treatment than if it had been diagnosed the first time I brought the symptoms up with my doctor. So I think you are facing a real dilemma.

I'm a doctor and I would never, ever do this. CTs are a lot of radiation - in kids a single abdominal or brain CT has a 1/1000 lifetime risk of cancer due to the radiation from that CT. The risk is lower in adults, but it's still enough radiation that you don't want it unless you need it. MRIs are known for being super sensitive - meaning they find everything, often including things that turn out to be meaningless but prompt unnecessary further investigation or intervention. The investigation or intervention itself often has a risk of complications. Any imaging can be a powerful tool but also a double edged sword. It might find something important and relevant, but it can also cause unnecessary worry and send you down useless rabbit holes. That's why in medicine we try to be judicious about when we use it. If the likelihood of finding something, or the importance of not missing something, outweighs the risks of "incidentalomas" (incidental findings that create confusion) then it's worth it. If those initial criteria are not met, then it's not.