Angelina Jolie has revealed she suffered from Bell's palsy, a form of temporary facial paralysis resulting from damage or trauma to the facial nerves. The Academy Award-winning actress said she recovered from it using acupuncture.
Jolie revealed the diagnosis in an online interview with Vanity Fair in an interview with released online Wednesday.
When Bell's palsy occurs the function of the facial nerve is disrupted, causing an interruption in the messages the brain sends to the facial muscles, resulting in facial weakness or paralysis, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Other symptoms could include drooping of the eyelid and corner of the mouth, drooling, dryness of the eye or mouth, impairment of taste, and excessive tearing in one eye.
CBS News said there are only theories about what causes Bell's palsy.
"Once other potential causes of facial paralysis are excluded, including tumor, Lyme disease, and shingles, the specific cause of Bell's palsy is usually not identified," Dr. David Simpson, director of the Neuromuscular Division in the Department of Neurology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
"The major prevailing theory concerning the cause of Bell's palsy is that it is an immune reaction of the facial nerve in response to a viral infection," said Simpson.
"Sometimes women in families put themselves last, until it manifests itself in their own health," Jolie, 42, told the magazine, crediting acupuncture for her full recovery from the condition.
Jolie, who has been open about her health challenges in the past, told Vanity Fair that while she has a few more gray hairs and drier skin, she believes that she is making better life choices.
"I can't tell if it’s menopause or if it's just been the year I've had," Jolie told the magazine. "I actually feel more of a woman because 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 wrote an op-ed in The New York Times about her decision to have a preventive double mastectomy in 2013 after she learned she had a BRCA1 gene mutation, which raised her risk for breast cancer.
In 2015, the actress had her ovaries and fallopian tubes as a preventive measure against ovarian cancer, CBS said.
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