Angelina Jolie opens up about Bell's palsy diagnosis
Dr. David Samadi provides insight about the condition
Angelina Jolie opened up on Wednesday about her hypertension and Bell's palsy diagnosis and how her family is dealing with a public divorce from her now-ex, Brad Pitt.
The Oscar-winning actress and U.N.Goodwill ambassador spoke to Vanity Fair about how her six children were coping with the split and the new development with her health. Along with hypertension, Jolie, 42, said she was diagnosed with Bell's palsy, when muscle weakness occurs on one side of the face, due to damaged facial nerves.
"Sometimes women in families put themselves last," Jolie told Vanity Fair. "Until it manifests itself in their own health."
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Jolie, who previously had a double mastectomy, said acupuncture helped her recover from Bell's palsy, but she now notices her skin becoming drier and she has a few extra gray hairs.
"I can’t tell if it’s menopause or if it’s just been the year I’ve had," she joked, adding that she "actually feels more of a woman" these days.
"I feel like I’m being smart about my choices, and I’m putting my family first, and I’m in charge of my life and my health. I think that’s what makes a woman complete," Jolie said.
Nearly a year after Jolie and Pitt's split was announced, the actress is settling in with her children in the new Los Angeles mansion she purchased for $25 million.
"It's just been the hardest time, and we're just kind of coming up for air. [This house] is a big jump forward for us, and we're all trying to do our best to heal our family," she told the magazine.
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Jolie and Pitt were together for 12 years and only tied the knot in 2014. She never disclosed what ultimately led to the couple's divorce, but admitted "things got bad." She later clarified that "things became 'difficult.'"
U.S. actors Brad Pitt and his partner Angelina Jolie pose for photographers on the red carpet at the German premiere of the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" in Berlin January 19, 2009. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSOLP8 (REUTERS)
"[Our lifestyle] was not in any way a negative," Jolie said. "That was not the problem. That is and will remain one of the wonderful opportunities we are able to give our children…They're six very strong-minded, thoughtful, worldly individuals. I'm very proud of them."
Jolie added the family is still "healing" from the incidents leading to the divorce.
"They’re not healing from divorce. They’re healing from some . . . from life, from things in life," she clarified.
When asked if she and Pitt communicate, Jolie responded: "We care for each other and care about our family, and we are both working towards the same goal."
Jolie and Pitt filed for divorce in September 2016. The FBI and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services opened an investigation into Pitt shortly after amid child abuse claims, but he was later cleared of any wrongdoing. Pitt later admitted in an interview with GQ Style that he had a serious drinking problem.
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