Celebrity-based medicine.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To collect contemporary accounts of celebrity use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), to aid clinicians in determining which CAM treatments patients are likely to use. DESIGN: Articles published during 2005 and 2006 reporting celebrity use of CAM. RESULTS: 38 celebrities were found to use a wide range of CAM interventions. Homeopathy, acupuncture and Ayurveda were the most popular modalities. CONCLUSIONS: There may be many reasons why consumers use CAM, and wanting to imitate their idols is one of them.