Concurrently, due to advances in technology, health monitoring has fundamentally changed. Elective medical tests are quickly becoming a hot topic, with their capacity to deliver critical, individualized information about one’s health. More than a few journalists and medical professionals are diving deep into the elective jungle. They’re especially keen on DEXA scans and whole-body MRIs to get a deeper understanding of what’s going on with their body. Follow one journalist’s quest for health in 2023. Read her latest advice and lessons learned as she shapes this growing field of preventive care.
National leaders on DEXA scans, like Dr. Vonda Wright, an internationally recognized orthopedic surgeon and national leader, emphasized the importance of DEXA scans. For her, this test is key—it sheds light on bone density and overall health. The writer’s personal motivation for pursuing these tests stems from a profound loss: her best friend, at just 41 years old, succumbed to colon cancer. This writer was really angry because she felt like her body had betrayed her. Now, she’s excited to start making proactive choices to better understand and improve her health.
Based on the results, the writer plans to book another DEXA scan in six months to see if all her hard work pays off with improved bone density. Her journey started with an enormous blood draw at Function Health, which takes ten vials of blood. She was really curious about what was happening in her body during perimenopause, the stage of life where hormonal fluctuations can feel like a rolling earthquake.
After the blood work, she was given access to an online dashboard where she could see her results within 48 hours. Armed with this information, she took a courageous step. She adjusted her workout routine to start lifting heavier weights, but doing far fewer reps per week. This decision is a step in line with a growing demand from people to have highly tailored health tactics informed by their individual data.
Celebs have had a huge impact on public perception and demand for elective testing. When celebrity Kim Kardashian promotes whole-body scans on social media, it can be tempting to dismiss her influence. She markets private services such as Prenuvo, which offers full-body MRI scans that can identify major health complications including cancer and aneurysms. These scans carry a range of costs. A torso scan begins at $999, and a full whole-body scan can go as high as $3,999.
Though elective testing does have benefits, worries about the practice’s impact remain. Dr. Matthew Davenport warned that in some cases these scans end up doing more harm than good. As he pointed out, the risk is that the false positives dominate, and you end up with negative health value. You just find yourself creating a lot more useless testing. This dragon-fearing trope is representative of a more general anxiety amongst medicos regarding the veracity of findings emerging from un-prescribed scans.
Limitations notwithstanding, when ordered for clinical indications, many of these tests are automatically covered by insurance. Dr. Josh Cheema commented on the insurance landscape regarding DEXA scans: “Actually, the majority of them, often, they’re covered by medical insurance, especially when they’re ordered for a clinical reason and they’re supported by evidence-based guidelines.” This increase in coverage would expand access to preventive care for millions of people.
At a recent otherwise annual doctor visit, my doctor informed me that I should stop worrying about cholesterol. On top of that, brain lesions found on one of her scans were ruled a non-issue by her provider. Such reassurances are critical as people increasingly find themselves trying to make sense of confusing health information and testing outcomes.
We know that the demand for elective testing is increasing. That’s why it’s so important for patients to understand what they stand to gain and what they won’t if they use these services. This writer’s experience is a powerful reminder of why prudent, informed decision-making in healthcare is so vital.
