Word: scans
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...advanced medical technology--and money to burn--who are possibly being misguided by the hype of an alternative to the traditional annual exam. I call it the executive physical: a battery of noninvasive tests using the newest, most powerful and most expensive imaging systems out there--machines that can scan, at incredibly high resolutions, every twist and turn of your body. Here are some of the most popular...
FULL-BODY SCAN This is the Cadillac of high-tech testing. Using a technology known as electron-beam computed tomography, radiologists take detailed internal pictures from the shoulders to the pelvis. The whole thing takes 10 minutes and provides such information as how much unwanted calcium has collected in your coronary arteries, whether there is an abnormal growth in your liver or colon or whether your bones are showing early signs of osteoporosis. Cost: $500 to $725, little of which your insurer is likely to reimburse...
...SCAN A lot of patients are taking it upon themselves to order their own positron emission tomography scan. This extremely powerful test screens your body's function rather than its structure; by visualizing cellular activity, it shows abnormal processes, such as those associated with cancers and metabolic dysfunction. The PET can spot tumors and other problems that may not be detectable with traditional MRI or CT scans. It also gives information about heart disease and many neurological disorders like Alzheimer's. Cost...
...DOSE CAT SCAN The most promising of the new tests may be the low-dose CAT scan. It is especially popular with smokers and former smokers who want to know how much of a toll their habit has taken on their lungs. Studies have shown that the low-dose scan is superior to the traditional chest X ray both in speed and detection rate. Less than one minute of your time on the table produces detailed images of the lungs in tiny slices, increasing chances of detecting abnormalities that could be early signs of cancer or emphysema. Cost...
...back in my rightful place. I figured I'd go to amihotornot.com a website where masochists and narcissists alike post their photos anonymously and let visitors rate them on a scale of 1 to 10. Because high school kids like to go to the site and scan in yearbook pictures from the Most Likely to Keep Using the Thyroid-Problem Excuse category--or snapshots of their shirtless dads--I thought I'd get a 6 or even a 7. Then, feeling cocky, I'd ask my girlfriend Cassandra to post her picture so I could find out whether to trade...