If your favourite soapie character cries, you cry with them and when they laugh, you laugh with them. But what does an avid fan do when the character is diagnosed with a brain tumour or lung cancer?

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They start sharing symptoms according to a study involving 200 British family doctors. The study was commissioned by Norwich Union Healthcare.According to the study, many patients thought they shared symptoms displayed in television series or soapies. But are the fans imagining things, like medical students whose imaginary ailments shift along with the syllabus?

According to the study, a quarter of the patients who self-diagnosed were right about their symptoms, two-thirds were occasionally right and one in ten hardly ever, according to the results of the study.

The majority of the doctors welcomed an increased interest in health issues and personal well-being. Public awareness of health issues was welcomed by the doctors, regardless of its source.

"Problems can, of course, arise when the symptoms or treatment of a condition are misrepresented", says Ilse Pauw, Cape Town psychologist.

"Entertainment is primarily the priority of the producers of the show and sometimes one or more rather dramatic symptoms are emphasised, rather than a realistic cluster of symptoms. An example of this was when the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder was dealt with in the local soap, Isidingo. People with no medical background could get the wrong end of the stick if the soapie happened to be their only source of information."

"But often the benefits of awareness of a condition outweigh the considerations above. Vigilance about health matters is very important and it is preferable that people have their symptoms checked and found not to have a condition than get to a doctor when it may already be too late."

"In a way soapies and other television series can in fact empower people to take more responsibility for their own wellbeing." - (Susan Erasmus, Health24)

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