(CNN) When celebrities speak, it seems, the world listens -- even when it comes to personal and public health. Just look at what happened after Charlie Sheen's HIV disclosure two years ago, said John Ayers, a research professor at San Diego State University. Sales of in-home HIV testing kits reached record highs around the same time the actor announced that he had been diagnosed as HIV-positive in 2015, according to a study published in the journal Prevention Science on Thursday. Ayers was a co-author of the study. About the same time, "in record numbers, people were going online, seeking out information on what the signs of HIV are, on how to find and appropriately prevent HIV with devices such as condoms and also how to get tested,'" Ayers said. "We've seen this ... many times over."A new study ties skyrocketing HIV testing kit sales to actor Charlie Sheen"Do celebrities have an impact on health outcomes? We know they do," one expert says
When _ disclosed, there was this trove of information," he said. "It turns out, though, that if you look at the _ effect and if you look at these other examples of organic media events ... that's not the case.