So, who do you turn to for medical advice – your doctor or your favourite celebrities?

It's apparent celebs frequently give medical advice and people often follow it – trusting the famous with their health.

McMaster researchers found people just can't help themselves from taking health advice from celebrities they admire because they want to be more like them.

Okay, maybe not the Kardashians or Miley Cyrus (you don't want to throw out your knees, lower back or hip by imitating her twerking after all).

"It seems illogical and crazy that we put our health in the hands of people who make-believe for a living instead of our doctors who have more knowledge, expertise and science behind them," says lead author and McMaster health policy professor Steven Hoffman Tuesday from Paris France where he is conducting further research.

"We're probably more vulnerable today than ever because of the reach celebrities now enjoy (through movies, TV and social media, including twitter and Facebook). They have inserted themselves into what we eat, buy and believe."

Of course, many celebrities use their influence for good, the researchers say. Believing in Michael J. Fox's campaign for Parkinson's research for example -- yeah, that's cool.

Celebrities can generate a large amount of publicity for health campaigns, the researchers acknowledge.

But the researchers also found clues on why so many people follow medical advice from celebrities that is misinformed and potentially harmful.

Among the reasons:

- Celebrities gain credibility because of 'herding – people's natural tendency to make decisions on what others have done in similar situations.

- Celebrities have a 'halo effect' that gives them "a cloak of generalized trustworthiness which extends well beyond their industry or expertise".

- Celebrities portray themselves to have an authentic connection to a product or behaviour they are promoting and as such are perceived to have greater credibility.

Hoffman says it's a very human thing to follow celebrity health advice these days, but says the medical profession can counter this.

"Celebrities should be held responsible for the bad advice they give," he says. "When Jenny McCarthy is needlessly scaring people about vaccines causing a lot of harm, she should be held responsible. We need to do a better job of naming and shaming them (celebs) when they go off the rails.'

Hoffman also says we should try to increase the cost to their reputation when celebrities contribute to harm.

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"Public health authorities can use these (study) insights to implement regulations and restrictions on celebrity endorsements and design counter marking initiatives – perhaps even partnering with celebrities – to discredit bogus medical advice while promoting evidence-based practices," says the study, which was just published in the British Medical Journal.