Prenuvo health screening in Houston can detect 500 conditions
HOUSTON - A new opportunity to be an advocate for your own health recently arrived in Houston in the form of a bull body scan that can detect 500 conditions. We talked to patients who believe it was a life saver for them.
Dan Durand is the Chief Medical Officer of the company that now has 13 locations in the U.S. and one in Canada, with more to come. "Our goal is to have people walk in healthy, stay healthy, live long, prosperous and healthy lives, and we do believe that there, every day are numerous instances where the things that we're finding are letting patients seek care and their lives are saved," states Durand. "It's a welcoming environment, a spa-like environment. It's designed for patients. You often think of patients as someone who's already sick. These are sort of patient consumers. These are people who are not sick but choosing to come in and, we want them to have an environment that doesn't make them feel sick, it makes them feel healthy."
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John Kouretas is relieved to be feeling healthy again, after undergoing treatment for cancer. "That scan really saved my life because by the time we got to the doctors and everything got it okay, my Neurologist said if that would have gone out of the kidney, I probably would have had a year to live," says Kouretas.
He says he had been to doctor after doctor with symptoms of bloating and couldn't find the answer through typical exams or blood tests. He found out through his Prenuvo scan that he was suffering from clear cell carcinoma of the kidney. "According to my neurologist, that's one of the worst one of the seven worst cancers you can have, because once it gets out of the kidney, it's like chasing a ghost," Kouretas explains. His scan also alerted him about an aneurysm that he will have closely monitored but doesn't need treatment yet.
John's wife is relieved he's okay, after having the affected kidney removed. She now shares advice to anyone with unexplained health problems. "Be so aggressive with your own health and be so proactive and ask questions, demand results, demand second opinions," says Marlene. She ended up getting a body scan too and took care of medical concerns after receiving her results.
We also talked to Carly Brown, who was relieved to get a clean bill of health after her scan. "In November of 2019, I was diagnosed with metastatic thyroid cancer when I was 33 years old, and I was working with a functional medicine practitioner, and I wanted to ensure that it hadn't gone into my lungs or chest and so instead of going to get a PET scan, I was concerned about the radiation from a PET scan, she was the one who recommended that I go get a Prenuvo scan," says Brown.
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At the time, Prenunvo wasn't in Texas, so she traveled for help. "That peace of mind that comes from knowing exactly what's going on in your body is absolutely priceless, so I do my scan every single year. The first time I flew to San Francisco, the second time I went to Dallas, and now I'll get to go to the Houston one, which is even closer to Austin for me," states Carly.
TV Show Host Maria Menounos opened up in People Magazine about her Prenuvo scan. She says in the article that the scan helped her discover she had Stage II pancreatic cancer. That's considered fairly early stage, as it's often diagnosed at late stage, because it typically doesn't cause symptoms or is often misdiagnosed because it mimics other problems.
"Every life we save is a privilege! It's a special privilege when it's someone who has so much impact on the world like Maria, and the fact that she's chosen to share her story and bring that to so many other people, it makes us extremely proud of what we do," states Durand.
The scans range from $999 to $2500. Menounos is vocal about raising awareness, hoping to one day get insurance companies to cover the cost. Also, Carly is working with a non-profit, trying to help others get a free scan.
"I did my integrated healing at a clinic in Mexico called Hope for Cancer, and right now, I'm running a fundraiser to help get more people to that healing clinic and hopefully get them a scan. I'm going to be collecting donations. I have over 560 applicants. I've already personally paid myself to send one person there, and I hope to send many more," explains Brown. "I partner with a registered cancer non-profit called Cancer Crackdown. You can research them and all of the funds go directly to them, so I'm really just the middleman connecting the community with the non-profit."
Meantime, flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts can be used to pay for Prenuvo scans and they also have a payment plan available.
For more information, visit the Prenuvo website.