Kim Kardashian recommends a full-body MRI scan – should I get one?
Whole-body MRI scans have been around for more than a decade but it is only lately that they have started taking over social media feeds.
In a promotional post on Instagram last year, Kim Kardashian wrote about her experience of being scanned by what she called a “life saving machine”. “It has really saved some of my friends lives and I just wanted to share,” she posted. Paris Hilton shared a similar experience of having a full-body scan to “proactively” rule out breast cancer. “I encourage every single one of you to go get a scan,” she said.
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Social media influencers and entrepreneurs promote the full-body MRIs as “super scans” that can detect early cancers and alert people to “silent killers”. They’re sold by tech and radiology companies as a risk-free way of getting a “complete health check” in an attempt to prolong your life.
But while the scans can be useful for people at high risk of certain genetic conditions or cancers, is there any evidence they can help people with an average or low risk of disease?