NEW POST: The NY Times on Longevity Clinics

Finding Balance Between Science and Marketing

When I read the recent New York Times article about high-end longevity clinics, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a couple from Florida. They had flown into the Maryland area where my integrative medicine practice is, specifically to ask about full-body MRIs as a preventive health measure.

"I'm sure they pick up cancers occasionally," I told them. "But about 20% are false positives, and in medicine, you have to follow up on those findings."

This means another MRI in a few months, the mental anguish of waiting for results, appointments with specialists, and more tests. Each step in this cascade has its own cost—not just financial, but emotional and temporal as well.

The True Cost of "Peace of Mind"

The New York Times story highlights individuals paying upwards of $20,000 annually for comprehensive screenings and personalized health recommendations. Some of these patients describe the experience as being "turned inside out" to look for potential health issues. While this thoroughness can feel reassuring, it often leads to what we call "incidentalomas"—findings that would never have progressed to affect someone's health but, once discovered, can lead to unnecessary interventions.