Aired: December 9, 2014 on FOX
Barbra Streisand appeared on Dr. Mehmet Oz's daytime talk show about health during the first two segments.
Barbra candidly talked about her advocacy in fighting against discrimination in women in the medical field, especially in the area of heart disease. Dr. Oz teased Barbra about the notes she gave him on his lighting and makeup (Barbra is a fan of the show and watches often).
During the first segment, Streisand told Dr. Oz that she and husband Jim Brolin try to eat healthily during the week, but on the weekend they eat whatever they want. “I love coffee ice cream, and we go to friends' houses and I can't resist even the bread,” she admitted. “I am a food addict. Tell you the truth. I am literally a food addict. I cannot stay away from foods that I love, which are bad for me — you know, like carbs that are bad. So I'm still a work in progress, as far as nutrition.”
Streisand, who frequently emails Dr. Mehmet Oz with medical questions, also shared a home remedy for colds that she learned from her mother.
“When I was a kid, my mother used to put mustard plasters on me,” she said. “You take a sheet, you rip it, you make a sheet. You make dried mustard with hot water. You put it in between the two pieces of fabric, and you put it on your chest and on your back, and that got rid of your cough. I bet you that is better than what they have today.”
Streisand stopped by the Dr. Oz Show, however, to talk about heart disease in women, an issue about which she is passionate.
Streisand said that when women with heart disease show up with symptoms that look nothing like their male counterparts, they can “go misdiagnosed and therefore untreated, and therefore you could go home the next day after the doctor has said take an antacid or an aspirin. And then, a lot of women, stories that I've heard, the next day they're dead in their living room because they weren't taken seriously again.”
Streisand encouraged women to take themselves seriously, even if doctors don't.
“Women should understand that because they now go to work and take care of the family, really, they're the center of the family. They will put other things ahead of themselves, so they have to know: Get heart checked,” she told Oz. “When you go to your doctor, you ask for an EKG, tell them your family history. Know your cholesterol, your blood pressure and so forth.”
Barbra’s efforts culminated in the Fight The Lady Killer campaign, an effort to heighten women’s awareness on heart disease with the help of medical experts and celebrities such as Jennifer Hudson and Edward Norton. In an era where women juggle family life and work, she wants the campaign to emotionally encourage them to have their hearts checked. The campaign’s message is clear: regardless of age, color, culture and the natural tendency to put others ahead of themselves, women need to know more about their bodies and stay on top of their health.
Barbra’s campaign became more poignant after she held two kinds of human hearts, the larger as a result of a heart disease. Dr. Oz explained that the human heart tends to get bigger to compensate itself when its health declines.
To date, Barbra has donated millions of dollars of her personal money to fund The Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The Center has significantly developed new tools and treatments that are gender-specific. According to Center Directress Dr. Noel Bairey Merz, a new list of heart disease risk factors have been identified which includes the following: irregular period, pregnancy complications, micgraines and auto-immune issues. An updated list of heart disease symptoms now has the following for women: extreme fatigue, cold chills, back pain, jaw pain, nausea and vomiting.
From what has been accomplished, Barbra’s campaign underscores the following: that the female heart is different from its male counterpart, that the population of younger women dying of heart disease is now increasing and that the Yentl syndrome (from a character Barbra portrayed in a film) does exist. Despite the irony in the Yentl syndrome, Barbara noted that women get better and proper diagnosis if they do present their symptoms similar to that of men.
End / Dr. Oz Show 2014
Barbra Archives is a fan-created website and is not official. It is not officiated by Barbra Streisand, her management, Columbia Records, or other official parties. Barbra Archives cannot contact Miss Streisand or her management on your behalf.
Barbra-Archives.com launched on May 28, 2003. This website is written, designed, created, and maintained by Matt Howe, Asheville, NC. Matt’s original text and articles on this website are Copyright © 2022.
The information contained in these pages represents historical documentation and is intended for personal, noncommercial and educational use only. You may not under any circumstance publish, use, make a profit from, or reproduce this material without the express consent from the webmaster. Please do not post photos and audio files from this site on YouTube and similar websites.
Image, video, and audio files on this site may be protected by copyright and are used within the guidelines of the Fair Use Law. All photos and/or image captures remain the property of the film's and/or photo's various copyright owners.
Note: As an Amazon affiliate partner, Barbra Archives may earn commissions from purchases of vinyl records, CDs, movies and digital music featured on this site.