Why have a full body scan? | Andrew Lacy

There has been a surge in interest in the use of full body MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans as a screening tool to spot early signs of disease. Influencers and celebrities have posted about their experiences, creating an additional buzz around these screening interventions. At a cost of up to $2,500 the scans are touted as a tool to catch medical problems, such as cancer, at a stage when they can be treated. Unlike X-ray and CT scans, MRI does not involve exposure to radiation. 

To try to learn more about the process from the perspective of a patient, Peter Bowes recently accepted the offer a complimentary scan from the US company Prenuvo.

In this interview, Prenuvo's founder, Andrew Lacy, addresses the balance between personal and population-level health.  He explains that the main draw for many is peace of mind, believing that early intervention could prevent severe health issues, while acknowledging that more research is needed fully to understand the propriety of such scans for the general population.

Watch this interview at YouTube | Read additional show-notes

The procedure has been widely criticized by professional medical bodies and is generally not covered by health insurance. The president of the American College of Preventive Medicine, Dr. Mirza Rahman, argues that there isn't sufficient evidence to justify screening asymptomatic patients, given that they can result in unnecessary anxiety and costly follow-up procedures to check out small abnormalities that are harmless and usually require no treatment.

Watch Peter's interview with Dr. Rahman at YouTube

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