Celebrities like Kim Kardashian are getting a $2,500 MRI – do you have to?
Celebrities are singing the praises of a full-body scan that claims to screen for more than 500 diseases, including cancer, but experts have slammed the technology as ‘pointless.’
Prenuvo, a health startup claims its $2,500 MRI can detect cancer and other chronic diseases before symptoms even begin.
The Vancouver-based company says its scans can detect the conditions that may go undetected at a regular checkup and the tests have received praised from celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Cindy Crawford.
However, the high cost and fact they are not covered by insurance, means the service is inaccessible to most people.
But as conditions like cancer rise throughout the US, particularly in younger people, the company’s founders tout the high price is worth it.
Dr Daniel Durand, a radiologist and Prenuvo’s chief medical officer, told AP: ‘We’re trying to give people the opportunity to be more proactive about their health.’
But many medical experts say the company is selling expensive, unproven technology that may lead to over-diagnosis while ignoring rising conditions like diabetes and heart disease.
Kim Kardashian posted on Instagram about her full-body MRI scan from Prenuvo, claiming the technology is ‘life saving.’ However, doctors warn there is no evidence supporting it works
This photo provided by Prenuvo in July 2024 shows an MRI scanner that uses magnetic fields to produce detailed images of organs, bones and other structures inside the body. Unlike many other types of scans, MRIs don’t use radiation
Last year, Kim Kardashian touted the scans, calling them ‘lifesaving.’
‘The Prenuvo full-body scan has the ability to detect cancer and diseases such as aneurysms in its earliest stages, before symptoms arise,’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘It has really saved one of my friends [sic] lives and I just wanted to share.’
However, experts have cautioned that the technology isn’t worth it for the average patient in good health with no symptoms.
MRI, which stands for magnetic resonance imaging, uses magnetic fields to produce detailed images of organs, bones and other structures inside the body without using radiation.
They are typically ordered to help diagnose cancer, brain injuries, damaged blood vessels and other medical conditions.
Full-body scans can take an hour or more, with patients lying motionless inside a cylindrical tube.
Most experts only recommend routine, full-body scans for certain high-risk groups, such as people who have a heightened genetic risk of cancer.
Dr Ernest Hawk, a vice president at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, told AP: ‘MRIs are great for what they’re typically used for.
‘But now you´re moving them much earlier into an average risk population, and that’s where you can run into these questions that haven’t been answered.’
Dr Mina Makary, a radiologist at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, said the likelihood of finding a serious problem, such as a cancerous tumor or brain aneurysm, in someone with no symptoms is low.
Definitively ruling out a problem could require additional tests, appointments and even surgeries.
‘You´re going to end up finding a lot of incidental things, she said. ‘That´s going to create more psychological stress or trauma for the patient, including additional costs for tests and procedures that may have risks.’
Actor and singer Kate Hudson has also posted about her experience with the full-body scan
Actor Eva Mendes has also undergone a Prenuvo full-body scan, though she acknowledged it was prohibitively expensive for most people
Experts also worry people who undergo MRI scans may start skipping other routine exams, such as mammograms.
The American College of Radiology does not recommend MRI screening in people without symptoms, stating there is ‘no documented evidence’ the technique is ‘cost-efficient or effective in prolonging life.’
And the FDA has not approved any MRI machines for preventive screening, but doctors are free to use the devices however they choose.
‘This is not an appropriate screening tool for a multiplicity of human illnesses and potentially emergent conditions,’ Dr Stuart Fischer, internal medicine physician in New York, previously told DailyMail.com. ‘It’s not a screening tool.’
Dr Fischer said preventative MRIs do not show many diseases that are on the rise in the US, including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, hypertension, and high cholesterol.
For example, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates diabetes accounted for more than 400,000 deaths worldwide in 2021.
‘A screening MRI will not see these at any time,’ Dr Fischer said.
Prenuvo recently announced plans to screen 100,000 people and study their health over time.
The study isn’t expected to wrap up until at least 2034.
Most people enrolling in Prenuvo’s study are expected to pay a $2,200 fee. But eventually academic or government studies could offer individuals a chance to participate in such research without paying out-of-pocket.
‘This is a great area in which to participate in a research study that might provide the information you´re seeking, while also helping answer whether this is beneficial or not,’ Dr Hawk said.
‘But doing so outside of a study makes no sense.’
