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Most recently, she’s partnered with GSK for their Sideline RSV campaign, a health education campaign to spread awareness on the risks of RSV: respiratory syncytial virus. While RSV is commonly linked to children, older adults with certain underlying conditions can be at great risk too, and that’s why Bassett is spreading the word.
When you gear up to meet a powerful woman like Bassett, it can be intimidating. But when you actually sit down and chat with her, you’re reminded of how genuine she really is. She brought a sense of wisdom, compassion, and laughter into every question, reminding fans to enjoy the good times, especially during times of uncertainty.
In her chat with SheKnows, Bassett discussed her new partnership, how she talks to her doctor all the time, how her kids, Bronwyn and Slater, 19, are blossoming into creative adults, and more — and taught fans so many things along the way.
SheKnows: Can you tell me a bit about why you partnered with GSK to spread awareness about RSV?
Angela Bassett: Being a person who realizes that as we age, it’s important to be proactive about our health and our healthcare. It can be a lifesaver for many of us. I’ve talked about my loved ones and my late mother, who had battled health issues, heart disease, diabetes, and COPD. I realized that a priority should be preventing the risk tolerance and preventing and that, and just doing that could prolong those moments that we have time to share with one another … When I spoke with GSK, I heard about how RSV affected older people. I learned that each year, approximately 177,000 people, adults age 65 and older, in the U.S. are hospitalized due to RSV, and around 14,000 of those cases result in death. As serious as that is, because it’s a common virus, it’s very highly contagious and potentially serious, the solution can be quite simple. We should speak to our doctor if we have those risks, those underlying conditions, or if you’re 75 and older, or if you’re 50 to 74 and you have those chronic underlying health conditions, then it’s imperative that for our long range health goals, speak to our doctor or pharmacist about our risk, about vaccination, if that’s appropriate for you. And then for more information, just go to Sideline RSV for tips on how to speak to your doctor if that’s needed.
SK: I love that you’re using your platform for this. Do you have any words of wisdom, or is there anything you want to say to older adults who may have apprehensions about going to the doctor?
AB: That’s the perfect place to start: you shouldn’t have fear. There’s experience, there’s wisdom, and there’s the ability to advocate for ourselves. Maybe it can be daunting, but they’re public servants. I have a wonderful relationship with my doctor. I call and text him. This is one case where you can be a nuisance! That’s what they’re there for! Sometimes we need the information — that’s what we need.
SK: What’s the biggest misconception people have about Black women and health that you wish you could rewrite?
AB: I don’t know. We’re all individuals, and I think we should all be taken at face value. I am just one. I’m gonna appreciate you and your journey, who you are, and recognize that you’re going to be quite different, but it’s all a part of this human experience. And that’s beautiful.
SK: I love that. Wow. Now, with navigating health and advocating for yourself, how did you guide your kids in those things?
AB: We spent the beginning, even when they were little kids, encouraging them to speak up. [I’d say] “Tell them how you’re feeling.” It gave them confidence. You’re there, you’re holding their hand, and you’re basically saying it’s okay. How you feel or what you think and how it’s going, matters. So express yourself. Be okay with that. I always let them, where appropriate, speak up, interject, and be a part of the conversation.
SK: Has aging shifted your relationship with how you handle your health and self-care?
AB: I really do try to make the time. It’s hard sometimes, after you finish working twelve, fourteen, sixteen hours, to do some additional things for yourself. But rest absolutely is a priority. When I [was] young, it [was] like, ‘Let’s go. Let’s party!’ And I still like to go — but I do recognize if I have to get up at five, I gotta be down at ten. So I try to insist with myself that we’re gonna try to get seven hours most of the time. Now some days, it’s just not possible. I am a night owl. But to function at my best, I have to prioritize getting rest and eating well.
SK: You’ve been a patron of the arts for youth for so long. How did you nurture your children’s artistic sides growing up?
AB: Oh, they’ll tell you. I will take them to the theater in a New York minute. [laughs] Take them to the theater, take them to the museum. I love that they love seeing art; I surrounded them with art. Gave them piano lessons. … They’re college age now, and I think it’s the end of sophomore year when you have to declare a major. I’m hearing [they] want to do something creative. I think they’re recognizing that about themselves, that they’re creative people, whether it’s music or fashion, architecture — they love creativity. I think they love human nature, because they’re interested in psychology, sociology, how people interact and are.
SK: They’re in college now — how’s that going with them being little adults in the world?
AB: It’s gone well. They are so excited about where they are, what’s happening with their lives. They’re just enjoying it, they’re good people, and the word always comes back when they go out, people call you that they’ve been around them or seen them. So a good word always comes back. When they go out to the world, they know how to be, and they carry themselves with grace, dignity, and with compassion.
SK: I gotta ask, do they have a favorite role of yours?
AB: I’d have to say maybe Queen Ramonda [from Black Panther] because that’s one they’ve seen, but they don’t really check for me for their entertainment choices.
SK: I know you said a few years ago that they didn’t watch What’s Love Got to Do With It, and I was wondering, have they seen it yet?
AB: Well, I don’t know about my son. My daughter had this past Thanksgiving last year. We’re on vacation together, and she was like, ‘Mom, we just watched this and you’re really good.’ I was like, ‘Well, thank you!’
SK: Was there a role you took that felt like a gamble at the time, but ended up being transformative? Or do you consider all of your roles rather transformative?
AB: All of them are very meaningful. I would consider knowing that you get to spend time with like-minded souls, you’re going to work very hard, very long in this project. We’re going to give our focus and our measure of devotion to it. Whether it’s a success in the marketplace or not, we’re gonna have this experience and this time together. So I would always pick something that I thought was would help me to grow as an artist, as an individual. No matter what happened in the end there, in terms of the public, you never know. So I had to be pleased from the beginning. You just always want to be proud of where you put your hand. I wouldn’t always respond because there’s a paycheck at the end of the week, because sometimes that’s not enough.
SK: I know the newest season of 9-1-1 will be premiering in October, and a lot of changes have happened. What should fans get excited for?
AB: Well, some of the characters that you’ve come to know and love are still there, still saving lives, still in relationships with one another, still growing, becoming, learning, loving, and still supporting one another. Some great messages are coming out there. But it’s about first responders, making people aware, keeping people safe. And, I guess I’m doing it in my work. I’m also doing that outside of work here with GSK in this campaign. [I’m] raising awareness because we all wanna be around for the moments to engage with one another.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
As part of the 6-3 majority vote, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. noted “the fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy, and propriety of medical treatments” in what he described as the “evolving field” of trans healthcare. “The voices in these debates raise sincere concerns; the implications for all are profound,” he wrote. Yet the justice and his five conservative colleagues came to the conclusion that these debates should be left to “the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process,” rather than being decided by the Supreme Court.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas was more direct. He questioned the authority of “alleged experts” on trans medical care, writing that “they have built their medical determinations on concededly weak evidence. And, they have surreptitiously compromised their medical recommendations to achieve political ends.” He concluded that “deference to legislatures not experts is particularly critical here.”
The plaintiffs on the case were a doctor and three families who challenged a 2023 Tennessee law banning medical providers from offering transgender healthcare treatments like puberty-delaying medication, hormone therapy, and surgery. Their case hinged on the Constitution’s equal protection clause, as they stated that the Tennessee law discriminated by sex and transgender status — particularly because the law specifically stated that the treatments were allowed when they weren’t being used for the purpose of gender transition.
In making their case, the plaintiffs noted that American medical associations support gender-affirming care as a way to prevent psychological distress among trans minors. That includes the American Academy of Pediatrics, which released a statement reaffirming that support following the ruling.
“To be clear — regardless of today’s legal ruling — the science still supports gender-affirming care, children will still need it,” Susan J. Kressly, MD, FAAP, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in the statement. Dr. Kressly described gender-affirming care as “medically necessary for treating gender dysphoria” and noted that it “is backed by decades of peer-reviewed research, clinical experience, and scientific consensus.”
It’s important to stress this, because trans youth are at high risk of mental health issues. According to research by The Trevor Project, 71 percent of trans and nonbinary youth report symptoms of anxiety; 59 percent report symptoms of depression; and 46 percent had seriously considered suicide in the past year. Studies have found that gender-affirming care is “associated with lower odds of depression and suicidality” — making it crucial that they have access to this care.
“Too often mischaracterized as exclusively involving surgery and hormones, [gender-affirming] care is provided thoughtfully and with the involvement of multidisciplinary teams of physicians, mental health professionals, families, and most importantly, young people themselves,” Dr. Kressley continued. “Denying patients access to this care not only undermines their health and safety, it robs them of basic human dignity.” She also panned the ruling for setting “a dangerous precedent” that allows “legislative interference” to come between patient and physician.
In her dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that the Court’s ruling “abandons transgender children and their families to political whims.” She took issue, as well, with the majority opinion that questions of transgender care should be addressed by the people and their laws, stating that “judicial scrutiny has long played an essential role” in stopping lawmakers from imposing “the state’s views about how people of a particular sex (or race) should live or look or act.” To back up the argument, she pointed to past Supreme Court cases like Loving v. Virginia, which found state laws banning interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.
It goes without saying that the ruling today serves a massive blow to trans rights in the US, prohibiting trans children and their parents from making the healthcare decisions that are right for them. Yet, as Nancy Northrup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement, this may be just the next domino to fall. “With this ruling, the Supreme Court has once again taken a wrecking ball to Americans’ rights to make decisions about their own bodies,” she said. “Today it’s the rights of transgender people, and next we expect politicians will come after birth control, IVF — anything that empowers us to make decisions about our own bodies and futures… This lawless assault on our fundamental rights must stop.”
Before you go, read about these celebs who’ve spoken out about getting an abortion:
]]>Then, just a few days later, the CDC walked back part of RFK’s statement regarding children’s vaccines. The agency announced COVID shots would stay on the schedule for healthy children 6 months to 17 years old, as long as the children and their caregivers consulted with a doctor or provider — a caveat even doctors found confusing. “My neck still hurts from the whiplash,” Dr. Molly O’Shea, MD, FAAP, an official spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and a faculty at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan General Pediatrics Continuity Clinic, said on a briefing hosted by the non-profit HealthyWomen this week.
RFK is a known vaccine skeptic, but it’s highly unusual for the Health Secretary to make such decisions unilaterally, as multiple experts pointed out during the briefing. So ultimately, what does this mean for children and pregnant people when it comes to getting vaccinated for COVID? Are these shots still necessary, and will insurance still foot the bill for them if without this government backing? Here’s what we know so far, according to experts in the briefing.
Is the COVID-19 Vaccine Still Effective For Children & Pregnant People?
The COVID vaccine is still considered very effective for children and pregnant people, with lower risks than the infection itself. Early in the pandemic, pregnant people and children often suffered significant outcomes from COVID, explained Dr. Margot Savoy, MD, MPH, FAAFP, senior vice president of education, inclusiveness and physician well-being at the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). “For pregnant people, in particular, the risk of ending up in the ICU, the risk of ending up on a ventilator, and the risk of death were just remarkably high, much more than you would expect,” she explained during the briefing. Once the vaccine became available, “those rates declined,” Dr. Savoy said. In fact, the serious outcomes that many worried would be side effects from the vaccine — things like miscarriage, preeclampsia, blood clots, or premature delivery — were actually more likely to happen as side effects from COVID itself, not the vaccine. “If you find yourself vaccinated, the rates of all of those things actually go down to almost none,” Dr. Savoy explained.
Plus, there’s the fact that vaccinated pregnant people pass their immunity to their fetus. That means that the vaccine protects the pregnant person themselves; their fetus, against stillbirth and premature delivery; and the baby, once they’re born, by conferring protection in their first six months, Dr. Savoy explained.
That’s a good thing, because “babies are very high risk” when it comes to respiratory infections like COVID, added Dr. Alice Sato, MD, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the Advocacy Task Force at the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. “Because they have such small airways… just a little bit of inflammation can make a baby get into trouble with their breathing a lot faster,” Dr. Sato explained. “[Babies] had very high hospitalizations, even with the last wave [of COVID-19.]”
Children of any age can also experience long COVID — Dr. Sato said the most recent estimate was that 6 million children in the US were suffering from it — leading to symptoms like fatigue and fussiness. COVID can also lead to missing crucial periods of time from school or preschool. Getting vaccinated can help shorten those periods and protect them from those kinds of complications. “In my vaccinated patients who get COVID, they get mild COVID, if they get it at all — and they aren’t as apt to get long COVID,” Dr. O’Shea said.
The vaccines are also still considered safe, the doctors agreed. In short, “the recommendations have changed, but the science hasn’t changed,” said Kate Connors, senior director of public affairs at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
What Are the New COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations For Children & Pregnant People?
So what are those new recommendations? The CDC no longer recommends COVID vaccination during pregnancy, which “seems to be following a unilateral decision from the HHS Secretary,” Connors noted, referencing RFK Jr. “It was made without any of the input of the experts at the CDC, the members of ACIP [the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices], certainly without feedback from organizations like ACOG, and so we’re very concerned about this.” She noted that ACOG continues to recommend COVID vaccination for pregnant people.
For children, the new recommendations are less cut-and-dry. After initially saying the US no longer recommends COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children over 6 months (with exceptions for children with certain medical conditions), the CDC now says it recommends a “collaborative decision-making [approach] with your pediatrician,” explained Dr. O’Shea. “Healthy children with no underlying health conditions can, in collaboration with their pediatrician, make a decision about whether or not they want to have their child vaccinated this coming fall against COVID-19.” However, this unusual caveat leaves the door open for insurance companies to rescind coverage of the vaccine, possibly forcing parents to pay out of pocket to vaccinate their children (more on that below).
For Dr. Savoy, the “really deeply troubling” part of these decisions is the lack of evidence to support them. “I actually don’t know what data was used to make the decisions that we’re talking about today,” she said. “The data that I have been able to see most recently continues to mark pregnant people as being incredibly high risk. There would be no situation in the data that I saw that would make me think that it makes sense to remove that recommendation.” The same goes for children, she added.
COVID-19 remains a threat, Dr. Savoy emphasized. “We keep having new variants show up. We keep having people end up in the hospital. We keep running out of beds in the ER. There’s things that are still happening, even though they don’t show up on the news.”
Are COVID-19 Vaccines Still Covered by Insurance?
This is one thorny question to come out of the changing guidelines. “We don’t know what’s going to happen with insurance coverage, and we’re very, very worried about it,” Connors said. That’s because there’s a direct connection between government vaccine recommendations and insurance coverage of those vaccines, Dr. Savoy explained. Insurance companies typically use government recommendations as a sign that a vaccine is safe and essential; when those recommendations are removed or weakened, the companies may see it as a sign (or an opportunity) to stop covering that vaccine.
Connors also pointed out that we’re only a few months from flu and RSV season, when vaccines become all the more essential for public health. “This is a really tough time for these conversations, for these unanswered questions,” she said.
Should Pregnant People & Children Still Get the COVID-19 Vaccine?
All four experts continue to recommend COVID-19 vaccines for everyone, including pregnant people and children. Dr. Sato cited the “incredible, robust” data that shows that the COVID-19 is safe, effective, and presents fewer risks of complications than an infection itself. “The science has not changed,” added Connors. “The COVID vaccine is safe and it is effective… [It’s] the best tool that we have to prevent severe outcomes associated with COVID infection.”
Dr. Savoy agreed. “I would still strongly recommend that if you’re a pregnant person, that you get vaccinated, not just to protect yourself, but… to protect the fetus and to protect your newborn infant on the other side of that delivery,” she stressed. “I’m still willing to stand on that hill… And if you were bringing your child in for their visit, I would still say that your child needs to have at least that primary series as a routine recommendation.”
Before you go, shop these products to soothe your child’s cold symptoms:
]]>Chrissy Teigen revealed she has ended her sobriety after giving up alcohol in 2021.
The model, 39, confirmed that she had decided to start drinking again in a May 15 episode of her Audible podcast, Self-Conscious With Chrissy Teigen, while in conversation with Holly Whitaker, the author of Quit Like a Woman.
“I loved the initial journey of being sober, and it felt very big, it felt almost exciting and fun,” she said of her decision to quit drinking. “[But] I just remember looking at my therapist one day and being like, ‘I have such a wonderful, blessed life, and it kills me that I can’t have an Aperol spritz or something if we’re in Italy.'”
Teigen added that she discussed a plan with both her therapist and husband John Legend to “carefully” and “mindfully” go back to drinking. “He was happy I was honest about it,” Teigen said of Legend’s reaction to her decision, but her choice still weighs on her. “I really don’t like disappointing people,” she said.
Teigen said she feels conflicted about whether she plans to give up drinking again in the future.
“[Sobriety] was so exciting and so cool to me, and now I’m like, ‘I messed up.’ It’s not even exciting to get sober again, and one of the things that really launched me was the excitement of it,” she said. “I still don’t know. I don’t even know if I’m ready to quit again.”
“All I know for sure is that it makes me feel like shit and I hate the taste of it. It ruins my meals.”
When pressed by Whitaker, Teigen admitted that she has a lot of shame around drinking and joked that many famous memes of her, from being asleep at the 2017 Oscars to her crying face at the 2015 Golden Globes, were because she was drunk at the time.
“I think it will help for this [podcast] to come out and for me to admit to this because right now it’s just all on me, and it feels like this big burden,” she said. “I know that people are going to be really kind about it and they will extend to me a lot of grace because this is how it works, there are ebbs and flows.”
“I guess I haven’t really come to terms with [whether] I am ready to have the last drink of my life.”
Teigen first opened up about quitting drinking in December 2020, three months after the loss of her son, Jack, shouting out Whitaker’s best-selling book as the catalyst for her sobriety. “One month ago, on my birthday, I got this book from my doctor and friend,” she shared on her Instagram Story at the time. “I was done with making an ass of myself in front of people (I’m still embarrassed), tired of day drinking and feeling like shit at 6, not being able to sleep. I have been sober ever since.”
Though she briefly returned to drinking, Teigen celebrated one year of sobriety in July 2022.
Before you go, click here to see celebrities who have struggled with drug or alcohol addiction.
For Kotb, who was 42 at the time of her diagnosis, the news that she would never have biological children was “a crusher,” the Today alum recalled. “You survive something terrible, you do the mastectomy, and then they almost say, as an aside, ‘Oh, by the way, this part of your life isn’t happening.'” The news was “devastating,” Kotb says, explaining, “we just put a pin in what I envisioned to be a beautiful chapter of my life.”
In the years since then, of course, Kotb’s dream has come true in a different way: she and her former partner, Joel Schiffman, share two adopted daughters, Haley, 7, and Hope, 5. “I was able to realize that families come together in many beautiful ways,” Kotb says.
When it comes to telling her daughters about her breast cancer journey, though, Kotb takes a measured approach. “My rule of thumb with them is, if they ask, I’ll tell,” the journalist says, explaining that she doesn’t want to burden her young daughters with “grown-up problems.” The one thing they have addressed? Her mastectomy scars. “Mom had surgery,” Kotb told them simply. “If they asked me, ‘What surgery?’ then I would go on and tell them.”
While they’re not to that point yet, Kotb isn’t keeping her cancer experience secret from her kids. “I want them to know that, after breast cancer, this is what life looks like,” she emphasizes. “Your mom plays tennis, she goes running. Your mom picks you up and throws you in the air. This is what happens after breast cancer.”
Currently, Kotb is using her platform to advocate for better insurance coverage for additional breast cancer screening, which makes her message all the more poignant. Per Susan G. Komen, people diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer have a 98 to 100 percent five-year survival rate; stage 2 comes with a 90 to 99 percent survival rate. That makes this kind of testing even more crucial, as it can lead to earlier diagnoses and better outcomes.
With numbers like that, Kotb says she doesn’t want her daughters to be scared of something like breast cancer — or at least to know that when something so frightening happens, they can come out the other side. “I don’t want them to be so terrified,” she explains. “I want them to know that even when scary things happen, this [positive side] can also be true.”
Before you go, check out these products for the breast cancer patient or survivor in your life:
products patients and survivors of breast cancer can actually use:
I listened as Dr. Shanna Swan described her decades of studies that show that endocrine disrupters (which mess with our hormone systems) in plastics, in pesticides, in soil and in our food may be associated with a global decline in sperm count that shows no sign of leveling off. Dr. Swan recounted an exchange she had during an interview with Joe Rogan — because, of course, the bros would care deeply about sperm count, as they should: “Joe Rogan said, ‘Do you mean the toxics we put into the environment are endangering the future of the human race? Why don’t people know about this?’” Swan went on to explain that she now considers it a vital part of her work to inform and educate the millions of people who have never heard of this problem. “They have no idea they are being poisoned.”
We should be freaking out. And we should also be angry. And then we should use all that energy to make some serious changes. Lots of “should” in those lines. But you know what? If we don’t demand change, it isn’t going to happen.
First, and please, do try this at home: Get as much plastic out of your lives as possible. Being a mom and a grandmother, the first thing I did was email my two sons about our summit. Now, let me admit: I proceed with caution on these kinds of alerts. It is hard enough being a young parent, holding down a job, trying to get through every day, without your mom calling you to say, “You cannot believe what I have learned about plastics — and you have to get rid of it! All of it!” It causes anxiety, to say the least. Well, it makes me anxious too. So, I did the old Mom Calculation… Which is more caring: to say nothing or to say something? I emailed them. (Honestly, I’m not the ‘stay silent’ type.)
I also called my friend and colleague, Lexy Zissu, an expert on getting toxic chemicals out of your life who has written six books, including The Complete Organic Pregnancy and Planet Home. Lexy always has solid advice on where to get the latest science on plastic danger. She referred me to Amy Ziff’s organization: MadeSafe: Made with Safe Ingredients. There’s also the Environmental Working Group, which does a great job of compiling ingredients and listing and rating products.
One large area of concern that caught my attention: Phthalates, chemicals added to plastics to increase their flexibility, durability, and transparency. You will find them in your house in carpeting, PVC piping, vinyl cladding, and other things, but they are also used in nail polish, moisturizers, eye shadows, liquid soaps, and perfumes. Small amounts, sure, but we are exposed every single day, for years, until we are no longer talking about inconsequential exposures. And we’re exposed to many kinds of these chemicals mixed together, too, changing and amplifying their impact. That’s why more companies are advertising phthalate-free shampoos and clothes detergents, for instance. Buy them.
Bottom line: get as much plastic out of your life as possible. We know it is next to impossible to get it all out. But keep those plasticizers off your skin, keep those plastics off food, transfer cheese and chickens and whatever else to glass, and please don’t microwave food in plastic containers. Don’t buy peanut butter in plastic jars — here’s a big thank you, Smuckers! for those beautiful, classic glass jars. Use loose tea steeped in stainless steel infusers. Get your kids into cotton or bamboo sleeping clothes — not fleece (made of plastic) — and get plastic, a.k.a. polyester, a plastic polymer derived from petroleum, out of your bedding. We breathe in microplastics all the time, especially if we are babies crawling around on polyester carpets, or kids playing on plastic turf, or if we are working in beauty salons. Just for instance.
There’s tons of guidance available, and once you start noticing exactly how plastic creeps into your life, you will be amazed at how much you can control.
But here’s my second and bigger takeaway from learning about how much toxic chemicals are in our stuff: Moms must double down on demanding that the people who make the products we buy, the people who sell our stuff, and the people whose job it is to protect us from dangerous chemicals, get to work! They are going to have a long road ahead, rebuilding our trust in the safety of the things we bring into our homes, slather on our bodies, and on our babies’ bodies, and cook in and, well, what part of life isn’t touched by plastics and the petrochemicals that make plastic? Even the air we breathe, because petrochemical plants are emitting some of the worst pollutants around. After listening to the scientists on stage, any trust between consumers and manufacturers should be entirely broken — and it will be, once millions of people understand how bad things have become. And that’s part of my job. Making sure people get the news.
Each scientist and public health expert on our panels agreed that we know enough, we have enough research, to know that we have a serious problem and that we have to demand change. “Scientists need to get off the speedbump of uncertainty and get behind what you know morally is where we need to go,” Robin Morris Collins, a former EPA advisor, told the summit audience.
But right now, instead of the industry vowing to clean up its pollution, the petrochemical and plastics lobbyists want to get around the Biden-era rules that require facilities to monitor their toxic pollution and to limit the release of potent carcinogens, reproductive toxicants, and other hazardous air pollutants — chemicals such as benzene, ethylene oxide, and 1,3 butadiene. We have an EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin doing everything he can to weaken protections against air pollution.
We have to believe: our voices matter. It matters to call Target, Walmart, Costco, and anywhere else you shop, and demand that they buckle down on requiring that manufacturers use safe chemicals. It matters to call your lawmaker and demand that they fight against what this EPA is undoing. These companies don’t want or need the bad PR. And we are the public in those relations, so we have to raise our voices. It matters to join your neighbors in fighting against the pollution coming from nearby chemical plants. All of it matters, but only if we all believe we matter enough to get off the speed bumps that keep us from heading as rapidly as possible to safety.
]]>While speaking with doctors and industry experts on the topic of gut health and the rise of colon cancer in young adults, Couric told the audience that she’s “done everything I can” in recent years to encourage people to get screened for colon abnormalities and cancer. That included “getting an on-air colonoscopy on the Today show back in the year 2000, which resulted in a 20 percent increase in colonoscopies nationwide, which was so gratifying,” Couric recalled. “In the years since, I tried to keep this issue on the front burner. I took Jimmy Kimmel to get a colonoscopy a few years ago. I’m trying to get Kevin Hart to let me take him this year because he just turned 45 and he hasn’t gotten back to me yet.”
It’s a project Couric is passionate about for a touching reason. The former Today anchor lost her first husband, Jay Monahan, to colon cancer in 1998, when he was just 42 years old. In the decades since, Couric has dedicated herself to raising awareness about colon cancer and encouraging others (including celebrities!) to get screened.
A colonoscopy is a procedure that uses an endoscope to examine the large intestine, or colon, to look for anything unusual like growths or polyps, which could be a sign of health issues like colon cancer.
Per Yale Medicine, “The American Cancer Society and U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend that people between the ages of 45 and 75 who are at average risk for colorectal cancer undergo regular screening tests for colorectal cancer,” so your mid-forties are the age to get it done.
While gut health is a big buzzword in the wellness world these days, it’s important to remember that taking care of your digestive system isn’t just about eating probiotic-rich foods and plenty of fiber. You also want to pay attention to any unusual digestive symptoms (think: a change in bowel habits, blood in your stool, and discomfort in your belly, per Mayo Clinic) and stay on top of important screenings like colonoscopies. Hopefully, Couric can get celebs like Hart to do the same.
Chances are, you’ve heard about Ayahuasca and how it gives people the wildest drug trips that can, potentially, change the course of their lives. But did you know that quite a few celebrities have tried Ayahuasca and shared their experiences? Before we get into what celebrities have said about their Ayahuasca journeys, though, we need to talk about what it even is — and why it’s so polarizing.
Ayahuasca is a type of brew made from hallucinogenic ingredients and plants, typically including the Psychotria viridis shrub, per Healthline. While Ayahuasca is illegal in the United States, it’s used for spiritual, religious, and ceremonial purposes by numerous tribes in North and South America.
So what happens when you take Ayahuasca? Experiences can really vary. By that, we mean that someone can have a trip that’s full of ecstasy, enlightenment, panic, or anxiety — or all of the above.
Vomiting and diarrhea are normal parts of the experience, which can last up to six hours. However, some people find Ayahuasca to be helpful with mental health conditions and general well-being. In fact, in 2022, a group of scholars did a study via survey and discovered that respondents who regularly used Ayahuasca displayed lower levels of anxiety.
However, with such high highs come some serious lows. Along with vomiting, diarrhea, and potential paranoia, some people have reported that Ayahuasca can worsen certain mental disorders, and some research has found that it can cause cardiac issues. There have also been several reports of death during an Ayahuasca ceremony, though “there has never been a death observed during a clinical study,” researchers noted in one 2018 paper. In other cases, Ayahuasca has been blamed for a death that occurred after the ceremony, sometimes long after — as in the case of one celebrity ahead.
Many celebrities who’ve had Ayahuasca experiences talk about both the good and the bad, but all of them have stressed that their experiences took place either abroad or with a tribe doing a ceremony. Ahead, these stars’ stories show just how wide the range of experiences on Ayahuasca can be, from scary to confusing to life-changing.
]]>“I asked for an X-ray in a hospital once, and it just was refused to me,” Shields told SheKnows ahead of her appearance at Flow Space presents An Evening with Brooke Shields. Describing the interaction, Shields recalled asking for the X-ray — “I would like one please” — and the healthcare provider saying no. “They said, ‘Well, we gave you one.’ I said, ‘Well, give me another one.'”
Turns out, Shields’ concerns were valid. “My bone had popped completely off a metal device, and they thought I was just being hysterical,” she recalled, then joked, “I said, ‘if you want me to be hysterical, I’m an actress, I can totally deliver!'”
Shields’ frustration stems from knowing that “women’s pain is judged differently,” she explains. “Especially women of color, they’re not taken as seriously.” She also pointed out the obsession with “fixing” women, something Shields experienced when she was given an additional procedure during a labial reduction. As Shields described in her new memoir, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman, per an excerpt shared with Flow Space, she came out of surgery to the male surgeon telling her about the additional, unauthorized surgery: “I tightened you up a little bit! Gave you a little rejuvenation!”
The traumatic experience left Shields in shock. Years later, she decided to share it in her book — knowing the salacious headlines that would come as a result — because of the dire need to confront stigma around women’s health and the shame and fear that comes with speaking up for yourself in healthcare settings. “When I really looked at the story and the importance of advocating for yourself medically—and how we’re not taught to do that as women—it was clear it needed to be in the book,” Shields told Flow Space. “We’re not taught to ask too many questions, and I think that needs to change.”
These days, Shields isn’t afraid to speak up in the doctor’s office. “I feel more proactive in my healthcare now,” she tells SheKnows. “I feel not embarrassed that I don’t know something, or I don’t feel difficult if I have more than one question.”
She said some of that comes from feeling empowered by different doctors, “who have encouraged me to ask questions and [who] say, ‘Is there anything else that you need to know about this?'” Shields is aware of how difficult it can be to have those conversations, and not just because you have to work up the courage to start them. “Not everybody can spend an hour with their health care provider and get into the weeds with it all,” she explains, “but it’s [the doctor’s] responsibility to educate us more so that we can be proactive in the future.”
For Shields, her experience getting a cone biopsy when she was younger — a procedure to remove per-cancerous tissue from the cervix — had long-lasting effects she wasn’t made aware of going in. Per People, the biopsy left scar tissue that would make it harder for her to have children.
“I was happy to be cancer free,” Shields reflects now. “But had I known that it would have been so difficult for me to conceive, I would have taken steps earlier.”
And when it comes to the idea of “fixing” women’s bodies, especially with procedures they didn’t ask for, Shields has something to say about that too. “I didn’t think I was broken,” she says, “so I don’t really think I need fixing.”
Before you go, read up on other celebrities who’ve spoken out about their health journeys:
]]>“It is a relief to now be in remission and I remain focussed on recovery,” Kate wrote on Instagram, in a post thanking the Royal Marsden hospital in London “for looking after me so well during the past year.” Kate went on to thank “all those who have quietly walked alongside William and me as we have navigated everything.”
She stressed that she’s still in a period of transition. “As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal,” Kate explained. “I am however looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead. There is much to look forward to.”
The Princess of Wales has largely kept her cancer battle private since sharing her diagnosis in March 2024, following a 14-day stay in the hospital for abdominal surgery. While visiting the Royal Marsden on Tuesday, Middleton spoke more candidly about the details of her treatment, including the side effects she didn’t expect.
“You think treatment’s finished, crack on with that… daily tasks, but that’s still like a real challenge,” Kate said while speaking with staff, according to the Daily Mail. “And talking… the words totally disappear… understanding that as a patient, yes there are side effects around treatment, but actually there are more long-term side effects.”
When speaking with patients, Kate referenced “the resilience you need to get through” cancer and treatment. “It’s to keep coming back….to be as positive as you are,” Kate added. “The treatments are really so different and so varied, it impacts families differently.” She also noted one piece of advice she’d gotten during treatment: “Everyone said to me, ‘please keep a positive mindset, it makes such a difference.'”
Though Kate hasn’t spoken much about her cancer journey, she described it as an “incredibly tough” experience in a video posted in September. “Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown,” she said at the time. Kate also called cancer “complex, scary, and unpredictable,” adding that it “brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities.”
Throughout her journey, the Princess of Wales has spoken of the importance of staying positive and thanked the public for all the support she’s received; now, it seems she’s looking to pay that support forward in her role. “My hope is, that by supporting groundbreaking research and clinical excellence, as well as promoting patient and family wellbeing, we might save many more lives, and transform the experience of all those impacted by cancer,” she wrote.
Before you go, read about other stars who’ve spoken up about their health issues:
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