Article #57781

Screenings can find treatable conditions before they’ve caused too much damage – but ‘overscreening’ can cause harm

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes when tech entrepreneur and longevity influencer Bryan Johnson posted about his girlfriend’s “vaginal microbiome report” in April. (He said it was in the “top 1% of vaginas”.) While the vaginal microbiome is genuinely interesting, most clinicians don’t routinely recommend this test to patients.

As medical technology has become more powerful – and more marketable – the line between helpful screening and unnecessary testing has blurred.