When Actors Turn 'Doctors'... How do you feel about the John Abraham Video on Heart Attacks?

A John Abraham video on heart attack is taking the internet by storm. The video of the Bollywood actor explaining the details of a heart attack has surfaced online and netizens, though amused, are not happy. The 48-year-old is renowned for his fitness streak that has kept him looking thoroughly and muscularly ripped even at his age. And yet, that is no grounds for an actor to claim authority on dishing out medical concepts to a national television-watching audience.

Abraham made serious-sounding declarations on a comedy show, while recently promoting his upcoming film Satyameva Jayate 2, saying triglycerides (a type of fat) are like bubbles in the blood that can cause heart attacks. He even made an analogy of oil reacting with water to explain his point, and cautioned against having a bad diet and taking stress.

Twitter, especially the medical side of it, got onto Abraham's case and took his heart attack explanation video apart. One user, who also describes herself as a doctor, called it "gibberish." Many others said that while he may have been trying to drive home the correct point, his triglycerides-bubbles reference was completely off the track.

John Abraham Video On Heart Attacks Sets The Wrong Tone On Health Advice

Abraham is neither a ">health professional nor a diet expert, and so, one shouldn't expect to turn to him for advice in the first place. But India being a country of celebrity worship, places its stars - especially those from films - on a pedestal, with fans bowing in deference to whatever they claim to be true.

Someone rightly said on Twitter that if Abraham one day decided to come out with a heart health book, the Indian fanbase would make it a bestseller!

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Ayushmann Khurrana too found himself in a similar soup some time ago when a video that captured him saying that it took three years for a person to digest whey protein went viral on social media. Many online called him out, appearing to debunk his claims, with fitness enthusiasts saying it was simply not true.

It's not just physical health tips that celebrities feel they are entitled to disperse, even if in good faith, but, dangerously, mental health advice too. Last year, influencer Santoshi Shetty (not a mental health practitioner) was widely slammed for offering "positive vibes" and therapy at a charge of Rs 1500 per person.

These virtual actions are not without consequences, which are felt in very real ways offline. Social media with its global reach is a bearer of big influence and the dynamics of it become exponentially more precarious with celebrities thrown into the mix. Does the responsibility then lie on public personalities to watch what they say? Or should the onus be on audiences to practice prudence and due fact-checks when it comes to consuming information in the digital age?

Views expressed are the author's own. 

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