Most actors aren’t real doctors, they just play one on TV.
So should you listen to their medical advice or get a second opinion?
What up my peeps, Julian here for DNews.
We love famous people, even when we hate them.
We love looking at them, gossiping about them, and listening to their advice.
Usually that advice is harmless.
Maybe they’re giving you tips on how to succeed, or for a killer kale salad or something.
But when that advice affects public health, should you listen?
Well, as with most things in life, that’s a gray area.
It can go either way.
Like in the case of Angelina Jolie.
In 2013 the actress announced she had had a double mastectomy in a preventative measure
against breast cancer.
Genetic testing revealed she had a mutation of the BRCA1 gene that, according to Jolie,
gave her an 87% chance of developing the disease.
Some critics panned her decision, either for being too extreme or lamenting that she would
alter her figure.
I would like to remind those people that it is in fact her figure and she can do whatever
she likes with it.
And it looks like Jolie’s decision has had a positive impact on public awareness about
breast cancer.
Serendipitously the Medical University of Graz in Austria had just surveyed 1000 women
about breast cancer treatment options right before Jolie’s announcement.
Once the news broke, they decided to survey 1000 women again to see if their knowledge
on the topic had changed.
And indeed it had.
The first survey showed 88.9% of women knew mastectomies were an option.
That number got a little bump, up to 92.6% on the second survey.
But the real change was seen in awareness of treatment options.
The first poll showed 57.6% of women knew they could have reconstructive surgery using
their own fatty tissue instead of synthetic breast implants.
That number jumped to 68.9% in the second poll.
And at first only 40.5% knew reconstruction could be done at the same time as the mastectomy.
That number shot up 19% to 59.5% in the second survey.
A separate 2014 study in the UK found that demand for genetic testing for breast cancer
risk almost doubled after Jolie’s announcement.
The fact that it was Angelina Jolie probably helped in another way.
As it turns out, people are quite attached to their body parts, and having them surgically
removed can be a traumatizing thing.
But if Angelina Jolie, a woman of famous beauty, valued her health more and had the operation,
maybe it’s not so scary after all.
Celebrity advice isn’t always so helpful though.
I knew as soon as I brought this topic up, many of you were screaming the name “Jenny
McCarthy.”
I could hear you through your computer screen.
For those that don’t know, Jenny McCarthy is a model and actress who has become the
de facto face of the anti-vaccination movement.
Her son was diagnosed with autism shortly after receiving vaccinations, she correlated
the two, and has been on a crusade to keep parents from vaccinating their children since.
The thing is, it’s pretty definitive that vaccines and autism are unrelated.
Thimerosal, the mercury containing compound that anti-vaxxers demonize hasn’t been used
in childhood vaccines since 2001, yet autism rates continue to climb.
But you know what vaccines do cause?
A severe deficiency in measles and mumps.
And you know what measles and mumps do?
They kill children, that’s what.
It looks like the celebrity backed anti-vax movement has had an impact though.
One study found that when a family has a child on the autism spectrum, they vaccinate their
subsequent children by age two 73% of the time.
Families with no autistic children vaccinated by that age 84% of the time.
The gap had narrowed by age 5, but following the vaccine schedule is vital to preventing
outbreaks.
In the end, this particular celebrity and her message are hurting public health.
Of course these are just two examples.
This list of celebrity backed campaigns that affect public health are endless.
Celebrities endorse pet causes that are all over the map, from gun control to parkinson's
research to HIV prevention to cancer awareness.
But even if they support a good cause, the information they dole out isn’t always accurate.
Still, according to a 2011 University of Michigan survey, 24% of people place some value on
a celebrity’s opinion.
So, what’s the answer to our first question?
Should you trust an unqualified but convincing stranger that you feel you know and trust?
To be brutally honest, no.
I know that you have the internet.
You can always dig deeper on a topic and have no excuse to be ignorant.
Always search for new information, avoid the human tendency for confirmation bias, seek
out expert opinions, and be willing to accept that what you thought was unshakably right
was wrong.
It’s not easy, but for your health and the public’s health, it’s the smart thing
to do.
Public health misconceptions and crazy diet fads often go together and both of them drive
me insane.
Worse, it looks like health food can make you fat because the world is a tragically
ironic place.
Matt Lieberman explains here.
Do you take advice from celebrities or not?
How’s that working out for you?
Let us know in the comments, subscribe for more, and I will see you next time on DNews.