Pros and Cons of Total Body Scans

In the era of medicine where we want to know everything about our bodies, there are companies that sell full body scans to individuals, along with blood tests that can tell you just about anything you need to know about your body. The pros and cons of this kind of technology are many. They are being touted as the latest in medical technology by private companies that sell their services to those who can pay for them. Some specialists in preventative medicine believe that such testing is useless and, in some cases, dangerous to those who take the companies up on the offer.

With regard to the scan, there is just as likely a risk of finding a benign disease that would require further follow up as it is to find malignancies. The risk of having invasive procedures because of an abnormality that ends up being nothing is high. The scanner itself can cause cancer because it exposes the individual to radiation. An MRI scan is less dangerous and is sometimes used instead of a CT scanner.

It costs hundreds of dollars to be screened. The screening can involve blood testing along with a CT scan of the body. Certain other screening, such as cardiac screening with a stress test, can be performed along with the CT or MRI scan. They say it gives peace of mind to those who want to know if they are healthy. Individuals, in reality, are anxious when they have the test done, more so if an abnormality is found.

There are too many false positives in this type of testing. A false positive shows an abnormality that isn’t, in fact, there. One company offers screening for heart disease, colon cancer, bone density, diabetes screening and cholesterol screening. A false positive test means that more invasive testing needs to be done which turns out to be normal after all. The invasive tests carry their own risks, including severe complications.

A heart scan is not a great test for the finding of heart disease. The virtual colonoscopy is a fair test for detecting colon cancer and has the advantage of being less invasive than the colonoscopy, which is still considered the gold standard for colon cancer detection. But virtual colonoscopy also exposes the person to radiation!

Those who make these tests believe that the results are clear cut and aren’t likely to increase a person’s anxiety level. They say that screening at this level is a personal decision that some people will find themselves to be relieved once they return as normal.

The expectation of most government panels indicate that this type of total body screening is not recommended for use in healthy individuals. The chance of false positives is too great as is the chance of follow up testing which is more invasive and not helpful to the healthy person.