Last month, Kim Kardashian posted on Instagram about undergoing a full-body scan. She promoted the procedure and the importance of preventive healthcare. Her post had stirred up controversy among her followers and the healthcare community. As per a report by Healthline.com, the prices of the full-body scans – around $2,500 – are not only high, they aren’t generally recommended by physicians as preventative care. Also read: Do full-body MRIs work? Ask your doctor, not Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian’s Instagram post
Kim had shared an image of herself next to a scanning machine with the caption, “I recently did this @prenuvo scan and had to tell you all about this life-saving machine. The Prenuvo full-body scan has the ability to detect cancer and diseases such as aneurysms in its earliest stages, before symptoms arise. It was like getting a MRI for an hour with no radiation. It has really saved some of my friends lives and I just wanted to share… not an ad.”
Kim sparks debate on benefits of full-body scans
As per a Buzzfeed report, Kim’s caption wasn’t quite accurate, as Prenuvo isn’t ‘like getting a MRI’ – it is an MRI scan. Based on a report by hopkinsmedicine.org, the portal reported that there isn’t radiation in any MRI scan, as images are created via magnet and radio waves.
The scan that Kim Kardashian underwent looks for things such as disc herniation, musculoskeletal conditions, fatty liver disease and MS detection, according to Prenuvo’s website. It costs $2,500 and takes about 60 minutes to complete.
Reactions to her post
Over the past few weeks, Kim Kardashian has faced criticism for promoting the expensive screening procedure. Reacting to her Instagram post, some people slammed Kim for being ‘tone-deaf’, while others debated on the benefits of full-body scans. “Kim, this is for wealthy people. People can’t afford food right now,” one person wrote.
Another one wrote, “This is so tone deaf. The majority of people in America could not afford to use this machine. The fact that she’s promoting medical devices that cost thousands is so ridiculous.” A third person joked, “Love a billionaire recommending preventative care that is totally inaccessible to 98 percent of your fan base, total vibe.”
Doctors don’t recommend full-body scans
Kim Kardashian has yet to comment on the backlash. However, the majority of the medical community advises against whole-body scans for numerous reasons.
According to a statement from the American Academy of Family Physicians, “Whole-body scanning has a risk of false-positive findings that can result in unnecessary testing and procedures with additional risks, including considerable exposure to radiation with positron emission tomography and CT, a very small increase in the possibility of developing cancer later in life, and accruing additional medical costs as a result of these procedures.”
Follow-up testing can be invasive, nerve-racking, and take up a lot of time. “On the surface, full body scans seem like a great idea—why wouldn’t we want to do regular scans and catch problems early? The issue is that scans often find small abnormalities, and we have to do more testing to figure out what these abnormalities are,” Dr Ilana Richman, researcher at Yale Cancer Center and assistant professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine, told Healthline.
