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Full Body Scan in Chicago

Our full body scan screens for cancers, heart disease and aneurysms.

Cancer and heart disease is more likely to be cured when caught early.

The traditional physical does not detect many serious cancers or heart conditions—yet the technology to screen for these cancers and other diseases is available. The gift of good health is priceless. And when you feel confident in your health, it’s an added motivation to jump start (or continue) a healthy, vibrant lifestyle.

The alarming truth about cancer and heart disease

While early screening is the norm for breast, colon, prostate, and skin cancer, many forms of cancers—such as lung, liver, and pancreatic—go undetected until they’ve spread too far and are untreatable.

Heart disease can be screened for just as easily, but much too often goes undetected. You may not know you have heart disease until you’ve had a heart attack, or that you are at risk for an aneurysm until it breaks and you die.

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Stats on Cancer

  • The American Cancer Society states the lifetime risk of developing cancer is 50% for males and 33% for females.
  • Three-quarters of lung cancers are diagnosed after they’ve already spread.
  • 700,000 people die from liver cancer every year. Symptoms are often mistaken for less serious conditions.
  • Late diagnosis of pancreatic cancer costs patients an average of six months valuable treatment.
  • Thyroid cancer incidence has continuously and sharply increased all over the world, yet often goes undiagnosed.

Stats on Heart Disease

  • Studies show the lifetime risk of developing heart disease is 50% for men and 33% for women.
  • About 610,000 people die of heart attacks in the United States every year–that’s 1 in every 4 deaths
  • Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. for Whites, Hispanics and African Americans.
  • Heart disease is the number 1 killer of women, accounting for 1 in 3 deaths – approximately one every minute
  • Women have a 50% higher chance of their heart attack being misdiagnosed as compared to men
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While you can have the full body can on its own, we highly recommend our patients undergo both the comprehensive physical exam and the full body scan—our executive physical—as they combine to give a complimentary picture of your health. Please note that this is not covered by insurance, but may be covered by your employer.

What is a Full Body Scan?

The full body scan is not one-size-fits-all. We use MRI, CT, and Ultrasound to get a holistic picture of your health.

The entire process lasts only three hours, and includes a consultation before and after to discuss the tests and the results. These tests are not covered by insurance.

Safe and painless, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) uses a magnetic fields to produce detailed images of the brain and the brain stem. An MRI does not use radiation, and can detect brain tumors, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, stroke, and dementia.

MRA (magnetic resonance angiogram) provides pictures of the brain’s blood vessels using magnetic fields. MRA can detect atherosclerotic (plaque) disease in the arteries which may limit blood flow and cause a stroke.  MRA can also identify aneurysms (weakened arteries) and arteriovenous malformations (abnormal communications between blood vessels), which are both a tragic cause of sudden death. We’ve all heard of someone who seemed strong and healthy, only to be struck down suddenly by a burst blood vessel in their head. Happily, these tragedies can be avoided with early detection.

Thyroid ultrasounds use sound waves to produce pictures of the thyroid gland within the neck. It does not use radiation and can detect nodules, growths and cancer of the thyroid.

Carotid ultrasounds use sound waves to produce pictures of the carotid arteries in the neck which carry blood from the heart to the brain. A carotid ultrasound tests for carotid arteries blockages which increase the risk of stroke, and for aneurysms (weakened arteries) in the neck.

Using high-speed low-radiation spiral CTs, we can limit the amount of radiation while detecting problems. CTs work better on lungs than MRIs. Low-dose CTs of the lung screen for cancers often missed by conventional chest X-rays.

Using special X-ray equipment, CT for Calcium Scoring determines if your coronary arteries are blocked or narrowed by the buildup of plaque—an indicator of atherosclerosis or coronary artery disease (CAD). The results can help evaluate your level of risk for a heart attack.

MRI creates detailed images of organs, soft tissues, bone and virtually all other internal body structures. MRI abdomen can detect cancer of internal organs like the liver, kidney, and the pancreas, as well as detecting aortic aneurysms.

A Doppler ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to measure the amount of blood flow through your arteries and veins of the legs. Vascular flow studies, also known as blood flow studies, can detect abnormal flow within an artery or blood vessel.

The only reliable method for detecting cancer, heart disease, and aneurysms is by imaging studies, such as MRI, CT scan and ultrasound.

We do not recommend whole body CT scans because of the dangerous amount of radiation given. We also do not recommend full body MRI because the cost would be prohibitive and the time to do a whole body MRI is considerable.  Instead, we recommend a combination of MRIs whenever possible, ultrasounds for the assessment of arteries and thyroids, and rapid low dose CT scans only for the chest in order to look at the lungs and the heart. The new generation rapid spiral CT scanner lowers the amount of radiation significantly compared to older CT models, and the results have proven invaluable and life changing.

Preparing for your visit

  • The appointment is early in the morning and lasts about three hours.
  • You will need to arrive 15 minutes before your appointment.
  • You will need to fast (water only) the night before the test.
  • You are asked not to drink or eat caffeine or use stimulants for one day prior to the exam
  • Prior to testing, we will draw blood to check your kidney function.
  • After testing, you will spend 30–60 minutes with the chief of radiology who will go over the test results with you, right then and there.
  • Providers involved do not ensure that these tests are comprehensive and are only being utilized as a screening method.
  • You will need to continue to see your primary physician for any health-related conditions uncovered.

Frequently Asked Questions

You’ll start working with your care team right away:

  1. First, you will have an introductory session with one of our providers.
  2. You will receive an Essentials Questionnaire so we can learn about your lifestyle, environment, genetics, and medical history.
  3. We will perform an initial analysis of your nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, detox, and body composition.
  4. You will receive a Health Coach consultation to evaluate your nutrition and gut health.
  5. We will create a personalized care plan built around your unique health goals. Your care plan includes a gut health plan with an exclusive detox management workbook.
  6. If you decide to move forward with membership, we’ll order lab tests based on our initial assessment of your health.

Insurance companies do not like to pay for integrative medicine services. We work to the best of our ability to get laboratory testing covered whenever possible as well as many medications which insurance does cover.

While insurance companies are often unwilling to help, we commit to working with every patient to develop an affordable plan, allowing you to reach your health goals. Our treatment plans start as low as $80 per month. We also offer concierge medicine services, allowing you to be an exclusive and private patient of one of our providers.

Learn more about our membership program here.

If you don’t have a membership, you can still make appointments for certain services — like IVs and pellet therapy. For pricing information on individual services, see our cost of services.

Every so often, we might need to make sure the service is still appropriate for you. This requires a consultation appointment.

Avert tragedy with a full body scan.

To learn more about MRI and CT scans, contact us at our Chicago functional medicine clinic, or schedule an appointment today!

Visit our Chicago clinic for a full body scan nearby.

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Not near our Chicago office?

No problem, our Forum Health Chicago team is available to you no matter where you are.

Get In Touch

Use the form below to request an appointment with one of our providers or to request more information. You will receive a call back from our team for scheduling.

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