Skip to main content

Celebrities and Health Awareness

Image
By

Celebrities, through their own life examples, often help create awareness on health issues more effectively than can be achieved by  other means. And it is the media that plays the vital role of taking this information to the society.
Take coronary disease for example. When Dr Manmohan Singh underwent his second cornary bypass surgery last year at the discussion in party circles often revolved around topics such as success of re-do surgeries and the effectiveness of angioplasty. When Bill Clinton underwent a similar surgery a few years ago, people came to know from his case example that saturated transfats in fast foods (he was passionately fond of burgers) tend to clog the arteries that carry blood to the heart muscles, and prevention needs to start in teens rather than in 40s.
Mr Sharad Pawar’s cheek cancer story was very telling; he was an avid Gutka chewer and what is now too well known is that this habit confers a great risk of oral cancer. In fact, India, where men chew tobaccolike cud, has the highest reported oral cancer rate in the world. What makes Mr Pawar admirable is that after the surgical removal of cancerous growth in USA that has left his face somewhat disfigured, he initiated an anti-Gutka campaign in Maharashtra to prevent other gullible chewers from reaching the same fate.
The Australian pop star Kylie Minogue’s beast cancer story is known in almost every household. As this young girl suffered the disease in her 30s (considered rather early for it as it usually occurs in 50s and 60s), the public followed media coverage of every step of her diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy and rehabilitation with feverish interest. In fact, breast cancer awarenss got its biggest boost due to this event than any amount of government sponsored campaigns had achieved.
The story of AIDs, though somewhat old, is woth remembering. The first celebrity victim it claimed was the legenary Hollywood star Rock Hudson. The public followed his brave fight till the tragic end and learnt about how the infection spreads, how the disease occurs, how it is diagnosed and treated, and what may be done to protect ourselves.
The stigma around diabetes, blood sugar testing and insulin injections have been demystified largely by the great cricketer Wasim Akram. He was one of the 1st to declare his disease and has campaigned extensively for its screening, monitoring and treatment. And appearing just as fit now as the bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders as he did in his hay days 20 years ago, he has silently assured many that diabetes, if kept well checked, is compatible with healthy energetic life.
The British Royalty has had its own share of medical problems that the public has followed and learnt of over centuries; Hemophilia and Porphyria became known as royal diseases. Through the lives of princess Diana and Victoria Beckam, people have learnt about eating disorders, through Parveen Babi and Brooke Shields, we have learnt about Schizophrenia and Depression, from Patrick Swayze about pancreatic cancer and from Michael Jackson about drugs overdose! And many many others!!
If the community has learnt from these and other celebrities, it is the media that has played a crucial role in educating us. 
As published in HT City ( Hindustan Times) dated 10 january ,2010.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How do you like your Tea?

By
The way we drink our tea may not only reflect our taste and style, but our health as well. Tea drinking is around 4700 years old and had its origin in China. Leaves of the shrub Camellia sinensis (tea plant) were in use at that time as a remedy for wounds and diseases. With the legendary emperor Shenong brewing and drinking its extracts, tea drinking became a popular habit in this part of the world. The British, impressed with the brew and the customs that go with drinking it in China and Japan, tried to emulate and evolve a tea-drinking custom of their own, and soon “tea-time”became a familiar term across the globe. Every home or cafe seems to have its own flavour. The north Indian variety of “chay” is a glass of hot creamy milk (more cream as it gets more “special”) with lots of sugar and a lacing of  “tea liquor” of strong tea that grows on lower heights (Assam, Nilgiri, Sri Lanka etc). In contrast, the Chinese and Japanese prefer light green or jasmine tea without a drop of mi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Food Fads in Liver Disorders

By
In an attempt at trying to do well to those they love, spouses and parents often enforce diets on patients of liver diseases that often turn out to be detrimental. The commonest food fad is pale insipid boiled cabbage being doled out to nauseous patients suffering from hepatitis that makes them puke even more.  The liver, in a way, is a buzzing manufacturing unit that requires lots of energy to keep its multiple functions going. And it derives all this from the food we eat. During disease, such as during an attack of jaundice, when many of the liver cells get killed, the liver attemptsdamage control by trying to regenerate quickly. For its cells to multiply however, it requires a generous supply of energy that comes from carbohydrates, and protein, the building block for its cells and tissues. Boiled green vegetables unfortunately have neither of these. Hence the situation often progresses to that of a starved liver unable to recuperate due to cut-off food suppl...
2 comments
Read more

Colas have No Class

By
Cola drinks, once a symbol of American upmarket style, is now to be found perched mainly on the shelves of road-side ‘paan walas’ and local grocers. True, there still are Americans who drink more colas than water, and consume an average of 2 bottles per day of the tangy fizzy dark drink, but it has clearly fallen in stature as offering it to visitors or serving it at parties is no longer elegant. Premiere schools in Lucknow such as La Martiniere College for girls have shunned colas from their canteen for the last 4 years. The story started with extensive campaigns by HOPE Initiative (Health Oriented Programs and Education) in 2005 creating awareness among the bright students about the long term harms of cola drinks. A heated debate followed in which the rights of an individual student  was pitched against the hazards of allowing gullible youngsters to be enticed by aggressive marketing to gulp colas and fall sick. The intelligent and alert La Marts students dcided on ...
Post a Comment
Read more