Our celebrity spokesperson is better than yours!

[pjthompson]

You know, thyroid disease is a serious problem. Because the symptoms are easily misdiagnosed as other things, it's often ignored, which sometimes leads to tragic consequences. The thyroid effects almost every function of the body, including emotional stability, so having a gland that's off kilter and pumping bad hormones into your system is not a good thing. As someone who has had thyroid disease most of my adult life, I take this seriously and urge everyone to get regular thyroid blood tests.

However, the near oh-goody-she's-sick glee just below the surface of this article is symptomatic of a disturbing trend I've noticed in "Disease Clubs": the celebrity spokesperson. "If only someone really famous would get sick with our disease, then we'd really get publicity and funding!" And, boy howdy, Oprah trumps just about everybody.

Am I the only one who finds this weird?

Comments

[mrngglry98.livejournal.com]

It IS a little weird but, as mentioned in the article, you can't deny the fortuitousness for the thyroid..."industry"? Hopefully no one's actually wishing illness on someone, but I understand the desire for underfunded programs and other such things to have someone as influential as Oprah on their side. As we were discussing in our social work class, one of the ways things get done is to have someone in the elite class take a sudden interest. It may be sad, but it's true. The only reason Jesse Ventura (when governor) added funding to special education in Minnesota, for instance, was that he had a child with special needs. Otherwise, why would the average person of privilege care about someone without it?

I personally can't stand Oprah, but I have this feeling that whatever she does is gold. I think that if she chose, on the day before the presidential election, to run for president, she'd win. By a big margin. She'd never even have to come up with a platform because she's Oprah. Oprah could take over the world. ;)

[pjthompson]

Oh, I understand where the "glee" comes from. There really are so many causes that it's hard to get attention for. It's just...weird.

And yeah, Oprah could take over the world. ;-)

[mrngglry98.livejournal.com]

Maybe Oprah already *has* taken over the world...

Uh oh.

[pjthompson]

You haven't had the chip implanted in your brain yet or you wouldn't be speaking such blasphemy.