Friday, August 11, 2023

Should you get a full-body health scan?

Plus more health news |

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Proactive health screenings are trendy but doctors have doubts
By Jamie Ducharme
Health Correspondent

As someone who writes about health for a living, I’ve long been interested in learning more about my own body. I’ve spat into tubes, pricked my fingers, and tracked nearly every aspect of my diet and fitness routine in the name of self-discovery (and journalism).

But I draw the line at the $2,500 full-body MRI scan that Kim Kardashian recommended this week. As it turns out, not many doctors recommend them either. Healthy people who take these extensive tests run the risk of getting confusing or anxiety-producing (but ultimately harmless) results and may be more likely to opt into invasive and unnecessary follow-up care, experts say.

Overall, doctors aren't as eager as the public about proactive health testing, including the kind of at-home blood and saliva tests I’ve done. But in a wellness-obsessed culture, they’re unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon.

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An Expert Voice

"Right now, [psychologists] are inundated with people who don’t really need care as much as other people, and we’re having a hard time getting to people who really need it. So I hesitate to say everybody should go to a psychologist."

— Margaret Sibley, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine

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Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and edited by Oliver Staley.

 
 
 
 
 
 

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