Celebrities like Kim Kardashian are getting a $2,500 MRI – should you?

Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian are promoting pricey, full-body scans that claim to screen for more than 500 diseases.

As conditions like cancer rise throughout the US, particularly in younger people, companies offering the services claim the $2,500 price tags are worth it. 

But experts are raising serious doubts about whether there is any evidence they work and fear the scans – which are not covered by insurance – are cashing in on the paranoia of today’s health-conscious populations.

Prenuvo, is one of a growing number of health startups offering $2,500 MRIs they say can detect cancer and other chronic diseases years before symptoms even begin. 

It featured in a sponsored post on Kim Kardashian’s Instagram page, where she described it as ‘lifesaving‘. Prenuvo has also been promoted by Cindy Crawford.

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.’ 

‘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. 

Click here to resize this module

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.’

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.’