Should You Get That Test?

Dear Reader,

Last week, I visited a wellness centre in South Delhi. 

The space felt more like a luxury hotel than a clinic. 

Lemongrass scent in the air. Soft waterfall sounds playing in the background. Pictures of glowing healthy people on the walls. Offers for cryotherapy and IV drips interspersed throughout the space.

After a short consultation, the doctor recommended a Rs 10,000 food sensitivity panel, a Rs 50,000 Oligo scan to check how well my body absorbed vitamins and minerals, and regular cryotherapy sessions that each cost over Rs 6,000.

I felt tempted. Who doesn’t want more information about their health?

Indeed, India’s diagnostics industry is now worth over Rs 1 lakh crore and is growing at 10-12% annually. 

Nishant Singhal, CEO of Healthians, told me his company alone has seen 10X growth. They served five lakh customers in FY20 and more than 50 lakh in FY26. 

This change accelerated post COVID, when more people wanted to stay healthy. 

Overall, this is a positive development. 

In much of India, the problem is underdiagnosis and late diagnosis.

For instance, National Family Health Survey data shows that screening rates for common cancers are low: cervical cancer screening has reached less than 2% of women. Breast cancer screening is often below 1%. Oral cancer screening sits at around 0.44% nationally.

But in certain urban pockets and among people with more disposable income, the pendulum has swung the other way.

They are testing too much.

Dr Rajiva Gupta, a senior consultant in internal medicine, described a common cascade to me. 

A young person with mild non-specific chest discomfort gets an ECG, then a stress test, then a CT angiogram even when they show no major risk factors. The final advice stays the same: improve your lifestyle. 

Yet, the person has spent weeks worried, unable to sleep in peace.

Psychologist Harshmeet Kaur told me she sees around five clients with some kind of health anxiety each week. 

“I often tell my clients that that medical tests answer medical questions. They cannot answer emotional ones. They cannot teach us how to live with uncertainty,” she told me. 

To hear the full story including consumers who test every three months, doctors who see the cascade, and the psychologist who treats the anxiety it creates, listen to the latest episode of The Signal Brief.

You can find The Signal Brief on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Thank you once again for listening and supporting us. We’d love to hear from you; write to us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram or X at @thesignaldotco.

Best,
Kudrat
on behalf of The Core

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