Zero-Radiation Imaging Technology
To continue with our series on prevention and anti-aging, this month we will address a special topic: a new zero-radiation imaging technology to visualize the whole body.
We will review what is new in disease diagnostic and how this can help detect conditions at an early-stage that can easily be treated before they get worse or it is too late.
A reminder first about the Galleri® multi-cancer early detection test which detects a cancer signal across more than 50 types of cancer, many of which are not commonly screened for today. With a simple blood draw, The Galleri Test provides early detection insights that help you be proactive about your health. If you are interested in The Galleri Test, please ask your provider about it at your next appointment.
A second test that we introduced is the TruAge® test from TruDiagnostic™ the most advanced epigenetic test. Through a simple blood draw, this test can determine your biological age versus your chronological age, the speed at which your body is aging, and some markers of aging such as your telomeres length or methylation abnormality of your DNA.
TruDiagnostic™ is constantly adding new data to its TruAge® Test based on the latest research on epigenetics. This allows the company to update in real time any test done in the past with new information related to your aging process and to recommend behavior changes or interventions that will benefit to your longevity. Some very recent data show the correlation between hormonal levels and their positive influence on the results obtained on these tests.
These tests help your provider identify weaknesses or health risks in your body and will indicate which intervention and/or deeper evaluation need be done.
New imaging tools are now emerging that can identify a clear vision of your full body through noninvasive, no contrast added, state-of-the art MRI technology. With no radiation involved you will get images from head to toes of all your organs.
Several companies are offering these full body scans and Dr. Fradin-Read wants to share the experience that several patients and she had so far with various tests. She will give her rationale for recommending the “Zero Rad Scan” offered at the Medical Imaging Center of Southern of California in Santa Monica or Beverly Hills under the direction of Dr Bradley Jabour.
This powerful Zero Rad Scan can help detect at an early-stage masses or lesions on your pancreas, liver, kidney, ovaries, uterus… and even identify metabolic liver diseases such as fatty liver (NAFLD) or inflammatory liver disease and steatosis (NASH). It can measure the brain volume which could indicate future risk of dementia and it visualizes spinal degenerative disc conditions that need to be addressed before they get worse. On top of it you can get with great accuracy your body composition results with percentage of visceral and subcutaneous fat, segmental measurements of muscle volume, and liver fat deposits.
Why is Dr Dominique Fradin-Read recommending this special place particularly to get your full body MRI?
Let’s first talk about the experience of a few patients who went to a different location and found it very deceptive as a whole.
Per need of discretion, we will not name here the company that offers a similar full body scan, but we will only mention that they have an aggressive marketing campaign and they advertised directly to patients. They use independent providers that prescribe the test for the patients without knowing them deeply, after a quick survey done online about their general health. No contact is made with the primary care doctor to ask for any health history or contraindication (patient being claustrophobic or anxious about getting results with no medical support already in place). Then the test is performed, and results are sent directly to the patients. These results appear in a form of a template where blanks are filled out. It comes as a long list of organs for each body location that repeats itself. If images seem normal the wording is in green color and says: “No adverse finding- No worrisome mass is identified.” There is absolutely no description of what is really seen for each organ like any good imaging center usually provides in their report. But if something seems abnormal, the templates describes the findings in orange or red, depending on the severity of the discovery, the issue, and recommend that the patient follows-up with a doctor as the reports says “it requires attention.”
One of my patients signed for the test on her own after reading some advertising about it. She got her results and got nervous after reading the report. She immediately tried to reach out to the facility to ask what an “enlarged liver was” as it was presented as a warning in orange on her report. She could not talk to any physician as none was available and spoke to possibly a nurse who told her that this was probably fatty liver and she needed to lose weight. Well, this nice patient is only 123 lbs for a height of 5’09’’ and has a percentage of body fat of 16% . On top of it, this young patient has a history of anorexia and the worse thing possible to say was to tell her to lose weight!
Another patient came to me panicking as there was some description of a “lesion on her liver” that appeared “worrisome” and she needed explanation. I got the results but not being a radiologist I myself was not able to understand clearly the results. I tried to call the company and was told that there was no one available and I would need to wait for a call back. In the meantime, I had the poor patient in front of me asking questions and no one was here to help answer our questions.
What I learned since then is that this company has several facilities all over the US and no physician is on-site to read the test. They only have technicians doing the scan and the images are sent to be read at a centralized location. Results are printed on a templated form identical for each patient and mention only a description of abnormal finding with no explanation. This shows the “danger” of doing testing without the proper follow-up of results in place.
This is the reason why I prefer to work in collaboration with Dr. Bradley Jabour the founder of Medical Imaging of Southern California as it is a complete opposite experience.
First, I communicate with Dr. Jabour about the patients prior to the study - he already knows what is important about the patient’s medical history ahead of time. Patients are informed before the test that any imaging study might reveal some findings that we do not expect to find and are not necessarily serious and they should not panic if “abnormalities” such a cyst on the liver or a small variant in their anatomy is found. This avoid having patients anxious at any discovery during the study.
A radiologist is on site when the test is performed and Dr. Jabour himself often reviews the images with the patient on a big screen in his office either immediately at the end of the test or soon after. He always offers me to be on Zoom at the same time if I am available. And he calls me or texts me images and explanations that are interesting for me to review with our patients.
Finally, each patient receives a big binder with clear report of the results and images of some important points mentioned in this report. The report is personalized for each patient (and not just a template with blanks filled out as other places do!). If patients want to, they can get the disc of the study for any useful purpose (surgery or other treatment needed).
It’s easy to understand the big difference between a quick “one-fits-all” approach to full body scan and an in-depth, personalized evaluation of ones’ health current status.
Dr. Read’s experience of the study :
What important results I got from the test (keeping in mind with the perspective of my family and personal history), and how I can use these results as a prevention tool for my future health.
Some of my patients already know that I lost my dear Mom in 2019 from a terrible cancer called cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the gallbladder duct). This is a very rare cancer that occurs in elderly patients and does not manifest itself with a lot of early clinical signs or symptoms. Similarly to pancreatic cancer it is usually fatal quickly after discovery.
When I did my own scan recently, it appeared that my gallbladder presented with a fold in the neck which could increase the risk of congestion and “sludge” in the future. This was an important discovery for me in the context of my family history.
The question to ask after receiving these results and knowing that my mom passed away from gallbladder cancer was: is there something in my genetics, in our familial anatomy, that predisposes me to have some weakness in the function of this organ? For sure I will need follow-up in the future, and I will be vigilant to do regular imaging of my abdomen in the next few years for surveillance.
What I immediately did is reduced the amount of cheese in my diet (it is hard I must admit, but I am doing it!!!) and added a supplement to help with digestion and gallbladder function particularly. I am confident that with regular follow-up I can avoid having the same outcome that my Mom had. If it were necessary and some inflammatory process starts developing overtime, I would even consider taking the gallbladder out as a preventive measure.
Example Imaging Report:
For more information about this new full-body test please ask Dr. Dominique Fradin Read or Carley about it at your next visit, or contact the Medical Imaging Center of Southern California at 310-829-4158.