Feeling healthy means you’re completely healthy, right? Not necessarily. When it comes to health, one of the biggest misconceptions is that how you feel reflects what’s going on inside. The reality, however, is more nuanced. Many health conditions can develop gradually. Conditions that are more serious don’t always cause symptoms like pain or discomfort until later stages. And small shifts within the body can occur without interfering with daily functioning at first.
A good example is high blood pressure. Also known as hypertension, having blood pressure shoot above the healthy range can quietly damage the body for years before symptoms appear. But letting this go on without treatment, could lead to eventual damage to the arteries, brain, kidneys, eyes, and heart, increasing the risk of heart attack, cognitive decline, stroke, kidney function loss, and blindness.
Statistics show that 115.2 million Americans have prediabetes, yet more than 8 in 10 adults with it don't know they have it. That’s because it’s largely a silent condition and typically doesn’t exhibit symptoms until it leads to more serious health concerns. Without lifestyle changes, prediabetics are at a much greater risk of going on to develop type 2 diabetes. But even before it advances to diabetes, elevated blood sugar in prediabetics can cause long-term damage to blood vessels, nerves, and organs.
These are just a few of many examples showcasing that the absence of symptoms doesn't always equal the absence of change. That’s why taking a deeper look at your body can provide the opportunity to check in on a more detailed level, with the potential to help catch subtle changes before they may become more serious.
Read on for 11 sneaky health issues that proactive health screenings may help detect.
Sneaky findings that can show up on whole body MRI
1. Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, does not typically come with symptoms until later stages. Those affected may not experience symptoms even in beginning stages of Stage 4 liver disease, known as cirrhosis where healthy liver tissue begins to be replaced with scar tissue called fibrosis. Thus, it’s often found incidentally, showing up as an abnormality in liver function tests or through abdominal scans like ultrasounds, CT scans, or MRIs that are ordered for non-liver related complications like gallbladder issues or kidney stones.
MASLD is the leading cause of chronic liver disease and can drastically increase your risk of conditions like cardiovascular complications, type 2 diabetes, and irreversible liver damage. Monitoring and early intervention can help to prevent or reverse more severe consequences, such as liver scarring, with lifestyle changes and in some cases medication.
2. Disc degeneration and spinal changes
Changes to your spine are incredibly common, especially with age. In fact, experts note that by the age of 20, around 37% of people show signs of disc degeneration on imaging. By age 50, the prevalence increases to around 80% and by age 80, it exceeds 96%. With age, normal wear and tear, and daily movement the cushioning discs between the spinal vertebrae wear down over time.
While some forms of disc degeneration and spinal changes come with obvious signs, like back pain, stiffness, or reduced mobility, many others have imaging findings despite feeling completely normal. Whole body MRI has the potential to help identify occurrences like disc degeneration, disc bulges, or other spinal changes, such as spinal stenosis (narrowing of spaces within the spine), mild scoliosis, or vertebral alignment changes, sometimes before they become symptomatic.
Many of these findings are often part of the normal aging process and do not necessarily indicate a serious problem or require treatment. But knowledge that they are there can help with future health planning and enable people to alter lifestyle habits in order to better support them, for instance switching to lower impact exercise like swimming versus running or working with a trainer to help strengthen surrounding muscles to support better posture.
Related: Do you sit most of your day? You probably have spinal degeneration.
3. Kidney cysts and benign growths
Simple kidney cysts are among the most common incidental findings seen on imaging. And these become increasingly common with age. Statistics show that around 25% of people who are 40 years or older and 50% of people 50 years and older have simple kidney cysts. These fluid-filled sacs that originate from the surface of the kidney often cause no symptoms and are frequently discovered during radiological exams of the abdomen. They can also be detected on whole body MRI.
In most cases, simple kidney cysts are benign and do not require treatment. Intervention is not often required unless the cyst becomes infected or enlarges and presses on tissues or organs. But while some simple kidney cysts can remain the same size year over year, others can get bigger or multiply over time. That’s why it can be helpful to monitor them as the years go by to make sure they aren’t posing any risk within the body.
4. Early cardiovascular changes
Many cardiovascular changes develop gradually over years and could be building for decades before symptoms appear. And some forms of cardiovascular disease are often referred to as "silent" because people can feel completely healthy while changes are occurring within the heart or blood vessels. In these instances, plaque can build up, blood flow can decrease, and other changes such as kidney atrophy, white matter changes of the brain, enlargement of the heart, and dilation and aneurysm of the blood vessels around the brain and aorta may progress long before an impacted person recognizes noticeable symptoms like chest pain or shortness of breath.
Whole body MRI with an Advanced Heart Health Scan may help to detect certain cardiovascular findings or structural abnormalities that warrant additional evaluation. These insights can be discovered before symptoms appear and may support earlier conversations with healthcare providers about risk factors and prevention strategies.
Sneaky findings from Body Composition Analysis
5. Visceral fat
Many people appear healthy and can have a normal weight and BMI. But under the surface, they could carry elevated visceral fat. While everyone has some degree of visceral fat, this deep fat that lines your abdominal walls and wraps around internal organs can be dangerous in excess.
Some of your visceral fat distribution is determined by genetics, but a lot also stems from lifestyle decisions like a diet high in fatty food or carbohydrates, as well as inactivity. Stress can also play a role, as cortisol can contribute to your body storing more of it.
Unlike the fat that sits just beneath the skin, visceral fat is metabolically active. It releases hormones and inflammatory substances that can influence how the body regulates blood sugar, cholesterol, and insulin. In excess, visceral fat can raise your risk of everything from heart disease to Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol, and stroke.
This is also why body composition can tell a different story than body weight alone. For instance, two people may have the same weight or body mass index but very different amounts of visceral fat, muscle mass, and overall metabolic risk. The scale can show how much you weigh, but as visceral fat is unseeable to the naked eye, it can’t provide insight into your full body composition. A Prenuvo Body Composition Analysis provides a much more detailed look at what makes up your weight and how those factors may impact long-term health.
6. Low muscle mass
You may look in the mirror and notice your biceps look a little smaller than they used to be, or maybe your legs are not as toned. But a lot of muscle loss is hidden behind the surface. Age-related muscle loss can begin as early as age 30, when adults begin to lose around 3% to 5% per decade. This process accelerates between 65 to 80.
You can be active and look lean and still experience muscle loss. And as this happens gradually, you may not notice until it becomes more serious, raising your risk of falls, reducing strength and mobility, making everyday activities more challenging, and impacting long-term health and independence.
As muscle burns more calories than fat, losing muscle mass can slow down your metabolism, making you more prone to weight gain. Muscle also plays an important role in regulating blood sugar, supporting balance and mobility, and helping the body recover from illness, injury, and other physical stressors. And since muscle changes can occur slowly over decades, many people are unaware they're happening until they begin to affect how they feel or function.
A Prenuvo Body Composition Analysis may help provide a deeper look into your muscle to fat ratio, which can tell a different story than body weight alone. That’s because a person may maintain the same weight over time while gradually losing muscle and gaining fat. And this shift isn't always obvious on the scale. Knowing your muscle mass can help you make lifestyle changes like incorporating more resistance training and prioritizing adequate protein intake to help you stay strong over time.
Related: What you get in your Prenuvo Body Composition Analysis Report
7. Muscle asymmetries
Do you feel like you have one stronger side than the other? You’re not alone. Mild muscle asymmetry is common. But some people may have more asymmetries than others. After an injury or in instances of chronic pain, for instance, people may form patterns that prioritize one side of the body over the other. This can lead to left-right imbalances and compensation patterns that can affect performance, everyday movement, and injury risk.
A Prenuvo Body Composition Analysis may also help identify asymmetries and provide you with more context on which muscles may be stronger or weaker. These insights can help guide exercise and training decisions, support recovery from previous injuries, and improve overall movement patterns and physical function.
Related: How to fix your muscular imbalances — and why
Sneaky findings from blood biomarkers
8. Elevated A1c or insulin resistance
Type 2 diabetes is a slow, progressive disease that can often take years to develop. Prior to a diagnosis, many people experience insulin resistance, a condition in which the body's cells become less responsive to insulin. This causes blood sugar levels to rise. Over time, this can be reflected in elevated A1c levels, a blood test that measures average blood sugar over the previous two to three months.
Detecting an elevated A1c marker early can help prompt lifestyle changes, like improving nutrition, increasing physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight, before diabetes develops. For those who are already prediabetic, early awareness may provide the ability to take steps that can help slow or prevent the progression to type 2 diabetes.
9. Inflammation markers
Inflammation is an important part of the body’s immune response. Short term, it can help the body heal injuries and recover from an illness. But when it becomes chronic, it can increase your risk for a range of diseases. With long-term inflammation, the body continues sending inflammatory cells even in the absence of danger. In conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, for instance, inflammatory cells that don’t have a job to do attack healthy joint tissue.
Over time, chronic inflammation has been associated with an increased risk of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and autoimmune conditions. Chronic inflammation levels can be harder to spot than signs of acute inflammation. Symptoms may include things like abdominal pain, fatigue, joint pain, depression or anxiety, GI symptoms, or weight fluctuations, all of which could be mistaken for other conditions.
Testing blood biomarkers like high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) can provide a glimpse at levels of low-grade systemic inflammation in the body. Elevated levels may indicate an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular disease mortality.
10. Cholesterol and ApoB
Many people assume that if they feel healthy, their heart is in good shape. But you can feel completely normal and be walking around with elevated risk factors for cardiovascular disease. This is because a rise in cholesterol and other cardiovascular risk markers often develop without causing noticeable symptoms. In fact, high cholesterol is sometimes referred to as a "silent" condition because many people don't discover they have it until it shows up through blood testing.
And digging beyond traditional cholesterol markers like LDL and HDL can provide a more complete look at cardiovascular health. Advanced blood panels can measure apolipoprotein B (ApoB), a protein found on lipoprotein particles that can contribute to plaque buildup in the arteries.
Like elevated cholesterol, higher ApoB levels typically don't cause symptoms. Knowing your cholesterol and ApoB levels can provide deeper insight into your cardiovascular health and enable you to make lifestyle changes, like improving your diet, increasing physical activity, or working with a healthcare provider on a prevention plan, before more serious issues develop.
11. Hormonal changes
The body has over 50 primary hormones, which control many different bodily processes, including metabolism, sexual function, reproduction, mood, sleep-wake cycle, growth and development, and more. Since hormones act as chemical messengers throughout the body, even relatively small shifts in levels can influence how the body functions.
Hormonal changes can occur gradually and quietly over time. With these changes occurring slowly, it can be difficult to recognize them. This can lead to people misattributing hormonal imbalances to situations like stress, aging, poor sleep, or a busy lifestyle.
In women, age-related hormonal fluctuations can begin years before menopause. As levels of estrogen and progesterone fluctuate in perimenopause and beyond, it may lead to changes in sleep, mood, energy levels, or menstrual cycles. And in men, testosterone decline begins around age 35 to 40, declining by 1% to 2% per year. But lower levels can often go unnoticed until they begin to affect areas like sex drive and performance.
Blood tests can provide additional insight into hormonal changes that may otherwise go unnoticed. Understanding these shifts can help people to have better conversations with healthcare providers on how to support their bodies, whether it’s through treatments like hormone replacement therapy, or lifestyle choices such as prioritizing strength training to help preserve testosterone levels.
Related: The 3 stages of menopause—and how they affect your health
Why visibility matters
These are just a few of the many examples of small changes that can happen in the body and build up to something greater over time. Shifts in areas like visceral fat accumulation, insulin resistance, muscle loss, elevated cholesterol, or hormones often develop gradually over months or years. And in many cases, they do so without causing obvious symptoms.
As a society, we track finances, career growth, and fitness goals. But it’s also important to track and keep tabs on our health. The goal isn't necessarily to find problems, it's to better understand what's happening inside your body, establish a baseline to compare future tests to, and help identify meaningful changes over time.
Screenings with Prenuvo can help provide a detailed picture of your health.
- Whole body MRI can help identify structural abnormalities, organ changes, and certain cardiovascular findings.
- Body Composition Analysis may help provide a deeper look at your muscle mass, visceral fat levels, and help identify muscle asymmetries that may not be obvious from appearance alone.
- Advanced Heart Health Scan can help measure heart muscle function, providing additional information to complement standard cardiac tests.
- Advanced blood panels can provide insight into metabolic health, inflammation, cardiovascular risk markers, and hormonal changes.
Many of these health changes develop gradually. The earlier you recognize and understand them, the more opportunities you may have to take meaningful action whether through lifestyle changes, medical treatment, or ongoing monitoring.
To learn more about the benefits of Prenuvo and to discuss which Membership might be right for you, book a call with a member of our Patient Services Team.
