- The idea that testing and tracking your health will help you live longer is buzzy right now.
- I feared I had problems like high cholesterol or blood sugar and paid $156 for a direct-to-consumer health test.
- I learned there isn't good evidence that these general tests improve our health.
It was a Friday afternoon in London's financial district and I was standing barefoot on a scale, blood freshly extracted from my arm.
I'd just spent $78 to have my heart health, diabetes status, blood, inflammation level, and body composition tested at a private clinic. I'm only 27, but being plugged into health trends meant that I'd become increasingly paranoid about the poor health indicators you can't see, such as high cholesterol or visceral fat, which surrounds the organs and increases the risk of heart disease, cancer, and type two diabetes.
Growing up, I remember hearing the phrase "an apple a day keeps the doctor away," sending the message that if you eat well, you'll be just fine. A few years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of volunteering to have a needle injected into my flesh. Back then, the idea it's possible, and advisable, to slow aging and prevent disease by optimizing your health wasn't so prevalent.
Amid the rise of wellness culture, preventive medicine, longevity treatments, and misinformation on social media, knowing how to care for our health can feel confusing.
Even though I seem healthy on the outside, am I really?
It's the perfect storm for creating health anxiety: Sure, I might be eating lots of fiber and vegetables, but am I spiking my glucose levels too much? And is my gut microbiome diverse enough? I work out, but is my VO2 Max high enough? Is my muscle-to-fat ratio OK?
Adding fuel to the fire, as a health reporter, I'm also acutely aware of the unavoidable elements of modern life that can impact our health. From the ultra-processed foods linked to 32 health problems that make up 73% of the US food supply, to the endocrine-disrupting microplastics that have been found all over the human body, to how sitting at a desk all day can increase the risk of early death.
It feels like there's an endless list of bodily systems and functions to consider, and all of this culminated in a quiet but persistent voice in my head that worried, "Even though I seem healthy on the outside, am I really?"
To soothe that anxious voice, I booked an appointment with a company that provides a wide range of direct-to-consumer health tests, which can be done at home or in one of their clinics.
I chose their most basic in-clinic test because it was the cheapest option, and I've struggled before to take my own blood at home. But there was a similar general at-home health test that cost $82.
Testing ourselves became normal during the COVID pandemic and now companies are cashing in
Since COVID, interest in health and wellness has skyrocketed (the global wellness industry is now estimated to be worth $6.3 trillion, up from $4.2 trillion in 2018, according to a new report from the Global Wellness Institute), and it has become more normal to do health tests at home.
"We all got quite used to testing ourselves regularly and now we think, 'okay, so if I did it for that, why not for other things?'" Annette Plüddemann, a senior research fellow at the Center for Evidence-based Medicine at the University of Oxford, told Business Insider.
I was left feeling like I had paid $156 to solve an imaginary problem.
Companies have jumped on the bandwagon because there's money to be made, Plüddemann, who studies the evidence for diagnostic tests and technologies and whether they provide health benefits, said.
With a quick Google search you can find tests for almost anything and get them delivered straight to your door. Meanwhile, luxury longevity-based healthcare companies such as Canyon Ranch in Arizona offer in-depth diagnostic testing retreats costing $20,000 for four days. And luxury hotels such as One&Only, Four Seasons, and Six Senses are adding these types of services to their offerings.
In 2023, the US diagnostic testing market was valued at $84.85 billion, and it's expected to reach around $158.77 billion by 2030, according to market research firm Nova One Advisor.
The test results were reassuring but I felt scammed
A few days after I had my blood taken, my height, waist, and hips measured, and my body mass weighed, I received an email with a 15-page report detailing my results. I was relieved to learn that there was nothing to be concerned about. My good cholesterol was slightly low, as was my platelet count, but that was all.
I also had a remote appointment with a doctor from the clinic to discuss my results, and she assured me that my health was good overall. Essentially, no notes. That cost me another $76.
I did feel reassured, and in all honesty, it has squashed my worries. So for that reason, I am happy I did it.
Direct-to-consumer tests might seem like a good idea, but in most cases, you'd be better off letting sleeping dogs lie.
But it also left me questioning if I had been, at least a little bit, scammed. I paid to have tests that I didn't actually need to ease an anxiety that had been created by the idea that knowing for sure would make me healthier.
I was left feeling like I had paid $156 to solve an imaginary problem. (That's expensive in the UK, where healthcare is free at the point of delivery). The noise around preventive medicine made me think that regular exercise, good sleep hygiene, and a healthy diet weren't enough.
I may have felt differently if the results were concerning.
More testing isn't necessarily better
People tend to think that tests can only do good, but unnecessary health testing can actually be harmful, Plüddemann said. Results can be inaccurate, leading to a false sense of reassurance or misdiagnosis, and when done outside a clinical setting, you don't always have a doctor to contextualize the results, she said.
There's this idea that if we track all of our health markers, we'll live better lives. But there's good evidence to suggest that general health checks don't necessarily improve a person's health outcomes. Plüddemann said.
"Whether people have been either given a health check or not, overall, hasn't meant they necessarily live longer or better lives," she said.
A 2023 study published in the journal BMJ Open, for instance, looked at 103 types of direct-to-consumer tests and 484 individual products ranging in price from $AUS 12.99 ($8.44) to $AUS ($1264). The researchers found that 11% of the tests were likely to benefit most consumers.
The authors of the study, who were based in Australia, wrote for The Conversation: "Direct-to-consumer tests might seem like a good idea, but in most cases, you'd be better off letting sleeping dogs lie if you feel well, or going to your GP if you have concerns."
Testing when you have symptoms, are at risk for a certain condition, or following population-wide medical advice like getting a colonoscopy from the time you're 45, is important and can be life-saving.
But getting tested when I was otherwise healthy felt like it was more beneficial to the company's health than mine.