After it was revealed this week that Jack Osbourne has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurological condition that damages the nerves and affects the transfer of messages around the body, many marvelled to Pam Macfarlane, of the MS Trust, at how young he was.
"Actually, he's probably about the average age of someone to be diagnosed but there's this general impression that it's something old people have," she says.
This is just one of the many misconceptions surrounding the condition and to have someone with as high a profile as Osbourne can be valuable to those with MS and those working for its charities.
"I'm conscious that I don't want to come across like we're jumping up and down that a famous person has MS," Ian Fannon, of the MS Society in the UK, says.
"It's a terrible thing and it's obviously going to be a difficult time for him and his family but there can be huge benefits when celebrities speak about a diagnosis like MS because awareness of the condition is very, very poor. For the public to be interested in what having MS means and what the symptoms might be is a good thing."