I tried a full body health scan in Hamilton, and the results were intriguing
This business operates across the UK, with one location in Scotland
I couldn’t really say no when I was asked to come along to try one of the MRI health checks from Ezra, which launched in the UK in 2025 and is part of Function healthcare.
I wouldn’t say I’m a hypochondriac, but I definitely feel that I’m of an age when your battery hens come home to roost. There are various cancers, as well as dementia, in my family.
I worried that, if I said no and didn’t go, there might be something slowly percolating that it would’ve been useful to know about.
Although the pros of this kind of healthcheck are potential early detection of some cancers or other diseases, the cons are that MRI scans like this can sometimes show false positives, or lumps and bumps that prompt investigation but turn out to be harmless. Do your homework before signing up, I’d say.
Still, I booked myself in for the Ezra Scan with Spine Package, which covers the head, neck, abdomen, spine and pelvis, but not the chest.
I made my way to their only Scottish location in Hamilton, at Lanarkshire Private Clinic.
After I’ve arrived and filled out a couple of forms, they quickly shuttle me through and I change into their branded pyjamas. Then, it’s into that big white tube of an MRI machine, with headphones on and plinketty-plonketty ambient music playing.
I’ve had this procedure before, and claustrophobes might find it hard, but I feel very relaxed, even with the white noise and clunking. In fact, whenever they decant me, so they can add a gadget or shuffle me around, I feel irritated because I’m so zonked out and on the edges of sleep. Perhaps I should’ve been an astronaut.
I’m in here for about 45 minutes, and there’s a lot of prompted holding your breath required, as part of the exam. No problem. Afterwards, I get to keep my pjs.
Then, home, to await my results, which arrive by email in a sweaty-pawed few days.
Thank goodness, there is nothing major to worry about. A follow-up consultation with a doctor is included in the package, so I also get a human, Dr Dan Brook, on a Zoom call to talk to about what was spotted inside my middle-aged body.
I instantly warm to him, when he says; “Your brain is perfect”. I’m quite glad to know that my forgetfulness and fog is probably just hormonal.
We also discuss the things that I knew about already, either through previous GP or hospital visits, or the similarly revealing private MRI I had about a decade or so ago.
Those gallstones are still lodged there, as are my simple liver cysts, a fibroid, dehydrated discs, scoliosis, and other silent niggles that aren’t emergencies.
There’s one new thing - a haemangioma - a benign cluster of blood vessels on my spine. Interesting, but no biggie.
The only thing that I might follow up with my GP is the nodules on my thyroid gland. I have Hashimoto’s disease, so my thyroid is always rather enlarged, but apparently there are a few lumps and bumps.
I’m not too worried, and Brook isn’t that concerned either, but I will get them investigated.
I wouldn’t say that a procedure like this is essential, but it is certainly rather reassuring.
Ezra MRI Scan with Spine is £1,999, see www.ezra.com
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