Brooke Shields Launches Shingles Campaign After Near-Death Health Scares: 'Women Aren't Taught to Put Their Health First'
Brooke Shields' new health campaign came a year after she suffered a serious medical episode.
Oct. 16 2024, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
She's been famous since the age of 12, but Brooke Shields said she's rarely felt happier or in more control of her life than right now.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the actress has joined a new campaign to urge women over 50 to "tell their stories and embrace their power" by taking care of their health after she suffered near-death medical scares.
Shields, 59, admitted as a woman it's all to easy to get caught in the trap of putting everyone's needs before your own.
Shields said women are 'not really taught to prioritize our own health' while speaking about her latest campaign.
She told Closer: "I think many women have spent a majority of their life taking care of other people – siblings, parents, grandparents, children.
"I think that we're not really taught to prioritize our own health."
The mother-of-two noted there is also a stigma attached to women who call too much attention to their own needs, adding: "Often a woman asking questions about her health is quickly dismissed as difficult or hysterical.
"I think women shy away and have been taught to power through things, even when they know something is not right."
The actress has partnered with GSK's Thrive@50+ campaign to encourage people to protect themselves from health risks like shingles.
Shields has partnered with GSK's Thrive@50+ campaign to encourage women to protect themselves from health risks like shingles, a painful rash contracted by 1million people a year but can be easily avoided with a two-part vaccination.
She said: "I learned 99 percent of adults 50 and older already have the virus that causes shingles inside their body.
"Even though not everyone will get it, we hope to motivate people to ask their doctor or pharmacist about their risk for shingles and about vaccination."
Shields suffered a grand mal seizure in September 2023 after drinking too much water while low on sodium.
The Blue Lagoon actress' message to women comes a little over a year after she suffered a near-death experience.
In September 2023, while dining at L'Artusi restaurant in New York City, Shields had a grand mal seizure.
The episode was brought on by drinking too much water while being low on sodium.
Shields recalled the "surreal" experience. She said her hands dropped to her side as she went "headfirst into the wall" while she began "frothing at the mouth, totally blue, trying to swallow my tongue".
She was transported from the restaurant via ambulance and was given oxygen.
She has since called on women to advocate for themselves and put their health first.
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Thankfully she made a full recovery and has since taken on several new projects, including becoming the president of the Actors' Equity Association, started a new hair care line and wrote a new book, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman.
She shared: "For so long, I've been conditioned, or, really, women have been conditioned, to fear aging.
"The messages were endless 'Anti-age this, turn back time on that.' But that wasn't my reality."
Shields encouraged other women to "embrace their power" by being proactive about their health and trust in their own abilities and hard-earned wisdom.
The former model added: "Ask questions about yourself. You know yourself better than you think you do.
"I've always been brave, but I've become more brave now. I believe you absolutely must grow more resilient as you grow older. I think it does, to a certain extent, happen naturally, but you have to fight for it."
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