Health: The Katie Couric Effect

When NBC television personality Katie Couric underwent a colonoscopy live on national TV in March 2000, she did more than show the world the insides of her bowels. Couric, whose husband died from colon cancer at age 42, also significantly raised the rate at which Americans signed up for a colon-cancer screening. In a study that appears in the current issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, a team of researchers from Michigan and Iowa reports that colonoscopy rates across the U.S. jumped more than 20% following Couric's examination.

And that may translate into saved lives. More than 130,000 Americans this...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!