The Couric-Jolie effect: The impact of celebrities ’ medical advice

Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling Some called it the Katie Couric effect. Soon after her husband died of colon cancer in 1998, the journalist and television personality had a televised colonoscopy to promote the test. Rates of screening colonoscopies soared for at least a year. Or, call it the Angelina Jolie effect. In 2013, the actress wrote an editorial in the New York Times about the tests she had for genes (called BRCA) linked with breast and ovarian cancer, and how the positive result led her to have a double mastectomy. Soon after, rates of BRCA testing jumped. Whatever you call it, the effect is real. When it comes to matters of health, celebrities can have an enormous impact. It’s good when celebrities do good The impulse to take a challenging or tragic medical experience and turn it into something that helps others is commendable. It may be easier to keep such matters private or avoid talking about them in public. But time and again, we see celebrities joining forces with health-promoting organizations, speaking out, and sharing their stories to help others avoid what they’ve experienced. Many have credited Katie Couric with removing the embarrassment associated with colonoscopy and showing how easy it is. Is there a downside? There are a number of ways celebrity pronouncements on matters of health can go wrong. For example, the information can be faulty or confusing. The forays of Jenny McCarthy (who claimed vaccines cause autism) and Gwyneth Paltrow (who recom...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Health care Managing your health care Source Type: blogs