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We tend to check in with our bodies in fragments: a scan here, a test there, maybe a conversation about symptoms if they become too much to ignore. Most of the time, we may not ever fully understand our health all at once.
But what if we could stitch those fragments together?
This is the goal of imaging like whole body MRI and blood work testing. Combined, they can work together to provide you with a more comprehensive overview of your health.
Related: What your annual physical could be missing
The problem with piecemeal care
Today’s healthcare model often moves reactively, not proactively. Even when you’re being “proactive,” much of the screening done such as blood panels, mammograms, colonoscopies, all function in isolation. Each test might offer useful data, but rarely are those data points reviewed together for a holistic review of your health. The result may be missed connections, slow insights, and a lack of clarity about what’s actually going on inside the body.
“Too often, patients may receive snapshots of their health during isolated tests,” explains Dr. Shannon Lotus Ashley, MD., the Senior Preventive Medicine Physician at Prenuvo. “That can delay understanding someone’s actual health status, especially when early signs are subtle or spread across systems,” she adds.
The power of integration: MRI + blood
A whole body MRI can provide a detailed look at the structure of your body including your organs, your brain, your spine, your fat and muscle composition. It can help identify potential abnormalities that may not be detected at your routine physical and even before symptoms appear.
Bloodwork, on the other hand, offers a look into your body’s biochemical state: hormone levels, inflammation markers, organ function, nutrient deficiencies, and more.
Combining the two can provide you and your doctor or healthcare provider more than raw data. It’s the ability to see a comprehensive overview of your health that may not otherwise be visible in isolation.
“When we layer MRI findings with blood biomarkers, we could start to see patterns,” notes Dr. Ashley. “They’re telling a story about what’s going on in your body,” she adds.
Three hypothetical examples of what this looks like in practice
1. The visceral fat surprise
Imagine a person who appears lean, eats well, and has a “normal” BMI. Their standard bloodwork comes back clean. No red flags. But when their Prenuvo whole body MRI is paired with body composition analysis, it could reveal something unexpected: high levels of visceral fat tucked deep behind the abdominal wall.
“You might look healthy by BMI and have ‘normal’ blood work,” says Dr. Ashley. “But your MRI could potentially identify visceral fat accumulation silently around your organs and that insight may change someone’s risk profile,” she explains.
This kind of fat isn’t visible on the outside, but it’s metabolically active and associated with increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic conditions. In fact, A 2025 study in Frontiers in Endocrinology using data from over 9,000 U.S. adults found that increased visceral adiposity, measured by the Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI), is strongly associated with higher risks of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
But, if identified early, it may be addressed through lifestyle change before conditions could potentially worsen.
Related: Prenuvo’s AI-assisted research reveals link between abdominal visceral fat and brain atrophy
2. Brain changes and chronic stress
Another case: a patient in their 40s, no major complaints, but increasingly forgetful and burnt out. They chalk it up to stress. Their blood labs from their outside provider show slightly elevated HbA1c, and their MRI reveals subtle reductions in hippocampal volume—a part of the brain involved in memory and mood.
“Our brain volumetric data may help identify early changes tied to chronic stress such as things like shrinking hippocampal volume, ” says Dr. Ashley. “These aren’t things you may be aware of or alert your physician to in routine care, but they matter,” she explains.
Emerging research supports this clinical picture. A 2025 review published in Brain Research highlights how chronic stress induces neuroplastic changes in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, causing dendritic atrophy, reduced volume, and disrupted signaling pathways. These changes impair memory, emotional regulation, and executive function, sometimes even before a clinical diagnosis is apparent.
These insights don’t require a diagnosis to be meaningful. They can offer signs that the body may be under strain and that action now could help preserve function later.
Related: 6 powerful exercises to help sharpen your mind
3. Where fatigue starts to make sense
A third patient presents with vague complaints: poor sleep, mood swings, low energy. It’s the kind of story that often leads to years of trial and error. But when comprehensive lab panels reveal low testosterone and suboptimal thyroid markers, and MRI helps confirm that no structural abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary axis were present, this patient may now have a more complete understanding of his symptoms and what may be the cause.
“Fatigue, mood swings, and poor sleep are often dismissed or attributed to lifestyle,” says Dr. Ashley. “But when labs show hormonal imbalances, and MRI rules out structural abnormalities, we can stop guessing and work with their physician to address the root issue—whether that’s a hormonal imbalance or a condition like obstructive sleep apnea,” she adds.
Instead of treating symptoms in isolation, this approach helps connect the dots, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of one’s health.
This isn’t about more data. It’s about a more comprehensive picture.
The real value of integrating whole body MRI with blood work isn’t the sheer volume of information, it’s the context it can help create. Instead of isolated test results, you may receive a more holistic narrative: what’s happening in your body, why it matters, and what you may be able to do about it.
“One of the biggest gifts of this type of screening is that it can be comprehensive,” says Dr. Ashley. “Our goal is to help identify potential issues at an early stage, so that you have comprehensive information you may need to make proactive decisions about your health,” she adds.
For many, that shift—from scattered data to comprehensive health insight—is where the transformation can happen. It’s not just clinical clarity. It can be about emotional clarity, too.
Related: Study finds whole body MRI calm anxieties, not fuel it
The insights you’ve may have been waiting for
Prenuvo’s Enhanced Screening is designed specifically for this kind of integration. It combines advanced imaging with lab testing of over 50 biomarkers, advanced brain analysis, and a body composition report. It’s a diagnostic experience that provides you with comprehensive health information, so that you may be able to better understand what’s happening inside your body.
It doesn’t replace your primary care physician, but it can help you, and your physician, gain a more comprehensive understanding of your health to develop a holistic diagnostic foundation.
And most importantly, it can empower you. To stop guessing, and to stop waiting. And to understand what your body may have been trying to tell you.
To learn more about the benefits of whole body MRI and/or Enhanced Screening, book a call with a member of our team.
