List of All Articles with Tag 'nda'

Amazon’s Alexa has been trained to offer better advice on periods. Alexa can now answer a series of detailed questions on periods by using information from the Freedom4Girls charity, whose guides have been informed by British teenagers, alongside existing content on the NHS website. Questions it can answer include “Alexa, what is period pain?”, “Alexa, can periods affect my mental health?”, “Alexa, how do you use period pads?” and “Alexa, what is a typical age to start your period?” Other questions for which Alexa has answers include “Alexa, what are reusable period products?”, “Alexa, where can I get free period products?” and “Alexa, are reusable period products cheaper?” Amazon worked with the period poverty charity Freedom4Girls to develop the new experience. Tina Leslie, founder of Freedom4Girls, said: “It’s so important that teenagers and parents alike can communicate with each other properly about periods, which is why we’re happy to be working with Amazon’s Alexa to ensure the correct resources are readily available to more families around the country. “The new features will be useful for anyone – whether you’re embarking on your first menstrual cycle, or if you’re helping someone you know prepare for their experience.” Dennis Stansbury, UK country manager for Alexa, said: “Alexa can now act as a tool to help families navigate challenging conversations around menstruation. “The hope is that having useful and relevant information available on Alexa via voice will encourage an open environment for these discussions.” Censuswide polled 1,007 UK parents with teenagers for new research to support the launch. Almost two-thirds (65%) of those surveyed said having easier access to quality information around periods would make them more comfortable having these types of conversations within their family. While 80% believed having open conversations reduces embarrassment and stigma, some 37% admitted they are too embarrassed at the moment to have open conversations about periods. A further 30% said they struggle to talk about them because they are worried about saying the wrong thing.

After an online frenzy following a potential leak of banned cards, Wizards of the Coast confirmed the leak is fake.

Provides an overview of Taiwan, including key dates and facts about this Asian nation.

There is no set release date for the Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections game, but it is definitely going to be released sometime this year.

Magic: The Gathering fans have potentially discovered next week's banned cards in Standard early. Here's the leaked list.

A woman who felt she was “trapped in this really dark world” due to her anxiety, causing her to have panic attacks, cancel her hen do, and feel she was “constantly on the verge of having a heart attack”, has said “therapy has allowed (her) to feel like (herself)” again and she has since gone on to marry her best friend who she met at school. Kirsty McKillop, 34, a strategist who lives in Walthamstow, London, said she had experienced anxiety “on and off” throughout her life, but it became all-consuming during the Covid pandemic – particularly after going through a redundancy process at her previous job in PR, which knocked her confidence and made her question her self-worth. She said she felt trapped in this “prison” that she had created in her mind and started “catastrophising” – she thought she would “lose everything in (her) life that she cared about”. “I felt like I was basically being crushed by the dark and being suffocated by it and I couldn’t get out,” she said. Kirsty decided to quit her job to look after her mental health, but then “everything went from bad to worse” as she started to experience debilitating physical symptoms. She would cry every day, vomit, experience heart palpitations, have panic attacks, feel agitated and extremely restless, and lie awake in bed until the morning. At her lowest point, Kirsty said she did not believe that she could get better, and she did not engage in “anything that might help her”. However, with the continued support of her now-husband, Liam, 34, family and friends, she began engaging in therapy from December 2021 – and gradually over time she could “physically feel (her anxiety) lifting”. She has since gone on to get married – something she previously did not think was possible – and go on her honeymoon to South Africa, and she now wishes to give the message that “life without anxiety is possible”. “No matter what level of anxiety you’re feeling, it isn’t something that you have to accept as part of life,” she said. “Whilst it is a natural human response, it’s not something you have to live with, and, going through therapy, it has just completely freed me from those feelings and I’m so much happier.” According to the charity Mind, anxiety is a natural human response when we feel that we are under threat; it can be experienced through our thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations. Kirsty had experienced anxiety at varying stages in her life, but during lockdown, when her job was at risk, her mind was “swamped” with negative and “obsessive” thoughts, with everyday places and situations becoming “bleak and scary and threatening”. While Kirsty did not lose her job, the redundancy process knocked her confidence, and her heightened emotions quickly spiralled into physical symptoms of anxiety. She felt she was in “this constant state of panic” and started “overthinking everything”. “I had really irrational thoughts that I was going to lose everything in my life that I cared about because I was not able to function day to day,” she said. “I think, eventually, it did turn into depression, and then I had quite intrusive thoughts around not wanting to wake up if I did get to sleep. “Not being able to sleep, not being able to eat, being sick, crying, feeling like I was having a heart attack, and feeling terrified of everything was really scary.” Kirsty would lie in bed and try to “disassociate” from her anxiety, but her intrusive thoughts just kept “swirling around in her head”. She then decided to quit her job in September 2021 “to give her the headspace” she felt she needed, but the lack of structure and routine in her life only made her anxiety worse. “It had taken over my head so much that I could not think rationally – everything was like, I’m worried about holding down a job, therefore, I’m not going to be able to pay the mortgage, therefore, I’m going to lose the house, therefore, I’m going to lose my husband and all my friends, and I’m going to end up with nothing,” she explained. “Despite having incredibly supportive friends who would come and just be with me for hours, I still had that fear.” Kirsty remembers a specific conversation where her parents and her then-fiance were discussing the wedding, and she thought: “This is ridiculous, there’s no way I’m going to get married in this state.” By this point, she had started losing consciousness during the day and blacking out, and she had to cancel her hen do. In November 2021, after moving back to her home town in Yorkshire, Kirsty’s family and friends encouraged her to seek professional support, as she was “stuck, trapped, in this completely different place”. Kirsty’s loved ones had looked after her throughout this period and previously suggested she seek help, but she was not willing to engage as she thought “it’s not going to make a difference”. She then started speaking to a therapist who was right for her in December 2021, and Kirsty said she was “pulled out of this horrible world”. Through having sessions once or twice a week, and with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), Kirsty said she felt she was “becoming much more rational” as she started to “challenge” her thoughts. The CBT focused on thinking about the facts, rather than “the feelings and the catastrophising” she had been experiencing, to try to “break the cycles of negative thinking”. She said: “When that feeling starts to lift, you think, I can get better, and I want to get better. “It’s not about fighting those thoughts, but accepting them and recognising they’re not facts.” By February 2022, Kirsty started to feel like herself again – she stopped being sick, no longer had panic attacks, and was able to sleep. In April, she started a new job as a strategist, which she now loves, and in July she married Liam and had “an amazing day”. Looking back now, Kirsty said she “dreads to think where she would have been” if she did not start having therapy, and she is beyond grateful for the support she has received from her family and friends. She does not want anyone else to go through the “absolute hell” she has, and wants to encourage more open dialogue and acceptance around mental health and anxiety, as she believes it “shouldn’t define you”. “Anxiety is a natural response, but when it gets to the point where you’re having intrusive thoughts, or it’s affecting you physically, or it’s stopping you from doing things, that’s when it’s not normal and you shouldn’t accept it,” Kirsty explained. “It’s not a state of well or unwell, it’s a state of always making sure you’re looking after yourself because life is always going to throw different challenges at you.” She added: “I enjoy life so much more without letting anxious thoughts spoil my day-to-day life… and therapy has just allowed me to feel like myself and enjoy being myself.” Kirsty is one of many who have offered quotes to inform and create a striking collection of AI art to shine a light on anxiety symptoms. The artwork, from the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), has been installed outside London Waterloo – for more information, visit www.bacp.co.uk/anxietyis. Read More I was a child with mental health problems. Nothing excuses the way I was treated Mum suffered panic attacks for 30 years due to unusual phobia ‘I spent too much money on your wedding’: Musician calls out married friend for flirting with other women Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

VIDEO: Succession eulogies are always memorable.

The menopause treatment fezolinetant has been predicted as a “gamechanger” by experts for thousands of women who suffer from hot flushes. The drug, which is the first non-hormonal menopause treatment, was recently approved by America’s FDA. Experts are predicting it could be transformative for women for whom hormone replacement drugs (HRT) are not suitable. The drug was licensed in the US on 12 May and could be approved for use in the UK by the end of the year. According to a British Menopause Society survey, 79 per cent of women aged 45 to 65 experienced hot flushes as a result of their menopause transition, while 10 to 20 per cent describe the hot flushes as “near intolerable”. Here’s everything you need to know about fezolinetant: What is it used to treat? It works to target the menopause symptom of hot flushes. The drug that has been approved by the FDA is made by pharmaceutical company Astella, which advises patients to take one 45-milligram of its VEZOAH (fezolinetant) pill orally, once a day. A large clinical trial of fezolinetant published earlier this year revealed that, after 12 weeks of use, it reduced the frequency of hot flushes by about 60 per cent in women with moderate or severe symptoms, in comparison to a 45 per cent reduction in those who received a placebo. Women involved in the trial also said the drug reduced the severity of hot flushes and improved the quality of their sleep. How does it work? It works by blocking a brain protein called neurokinin-3, which plays a unique role in regulating body temperature in menopausal women. Respondents of the trial have said that the effects of the drug was experienced after taking the first tablet. By comparison, HRT, taken to alleviate menopausal symptoms, replaces the oestrogen that you lose during the menopause transition, either alone or in combination with a progestogen What are the side effects? According to the FDA, the most common side effects are abdominal pain, diarrhoea, insomnia, back pain, hot flush and elevated hepatic transaminases. What have experts said about it? “This is going to be a completely blockbuster drug,” said Prof Waljit Dhillo, an endocrinologist at Imperial College London who led a trial for the drug in 2017 toldThe Guardian. “It’s like a switch. Within a day or two the flushes go away. It’s unbelievable how well these drugs work. It’s going to be completely game changing for a lot of women.” Read More Adenomyosis: 5 things you need to know about the ‘evil twin sister’ of endometriosis ‘Suddenly, I saw Dad again’: The radical technology helping those living with dementia Naga Munchetty reveals womb condition adenomyosis: ‘I live every day on painkillers’

Miranda Kerr discussed her close relationship with Katy Perry, the Foo Fighters have a new drummer, the Heat dominated the Celtics and more in the Roundup.

Despite increasing public awareness of endometriosis, with celebrity figureheads including Lena Dunham and Molly Mae, the condition’s ‘evil twin sister’, adenomyosis, remains neglected. While the NHS has an entire webpage which explains what endometriosis is, there is currently no equivalent for its sister condition. Read on for five things you should know. It’s not the same as endometriosis Both endometriosis and adenomyosis occur when the lining of the uterus (known as the endometrium) grows out of place, but there are major differences between the two. In endometriosis, the rogue tissue invades areas outside of the uterus. While the extent of the growth varies from patient to patient, it can affect areas such as the bladder, bowel, ovaries, and even the lungs. Adenomyosis, on the other hand, causes the rogue tissue to bury inside the muscular wall of the uterus. It’s possible to suffer from both conditions at the same time. Symptoms include bloating, heavy periods, and pelvic pain Thanks to the invasive endometrial growth, adenomyosis is characterised by an enlarged uterus. During menstruation, the embedded tissue swells and bleeds, typically causing a variety of symptoms (although some women are asymptomatic). According to a patient leaflet published by University College Hospital, sufferers commonly have painful and irregular periods, with more than half experiencing heavy bleeding. Chronic pre-menstrual pain, and feelings of heaviness and discomfort in the pelvis are among other possible symptoms. Less frequently, adenomyosis can cause bloating, pain during intercourse, and pain related to bowel movements. All symptoms should stop after the menopause. It affects 1 in 10 women The condition is believed to affect 10 per cent of women in the UK. That makes it just as prevalent as endometriosis, although it’s more common in women between the ages of 40-50, and those who have been pregnant before. While the cause of the condition is not known, UCH says that “genetics and some hormones may play a role”. In terms of long-term effects, the North Bristol NHS trust says that adenomyosis does not appear to decrease the chance of pregnancy, however it has been linked to an increased risk of miscarriage and premature birth. Treatment options are limited For women with mild symptoms, trying to get pregnant, or nearing menopause, the North Bristol trust says that treatment may not be necessary, but for those seeking relief from symptoms, it recommends medication to reduce pain and bleeding, and hormonal interventions such as the contraceptive pill. The only “cure” is a surgical procedure involving the removal of the womb (hysterectomy), although this is a last resort intervention. The Bristol-based trust also offers an alternative surgery which involves blocking the blood supply to the endometrial growth, forcing it to shrink, but neither procedure is advisable for women who want to get pregnant in the future. It can take years to diagnose The condition is typically diagnosed using MRI and ultrasound scans, but the NHS says that adenomyosis can take “a long time, even years, to diagnose” because “symptoms and severity can vary between women”. The frequent dismissal of women’s gynaecological symptoms means that signs of adenomyosis may be conflated with ‘normal’ menstruation, or even other conditions such as endometriosis. Anecdotal reports of sufferers suggest that misdiagnosis is common. Gabrielle Union, one of the only celebrities to have publicly identified as having the condition, suspects her condition went undiagnosed for years. Speaking at a conference in 2019, Union explained: “The gag is I had [adenomyosis] in my early twenties, and instead of someone diagnosing me they were like ‘Oh you have periods that last nine or 10 days and you’re bleeding through overnight pads? Not a mere inconvenience... perhaps there’s something more there.’” Earlier this year, the charity Tommy’s reported that the condition might be “underdiagnosed” after a review of existing studies found that “mild” cases could be missed by clinicians using current diagnostic methods. “There should be training for clinicians and sonographers to diagnose adenomyosis using a standardised criteria,” said Dr Ishita Mishra, leader of the review. “Being able to identify this condition using a uniform set of criteria would then help give us a true picture of the numbers affected, and better understanding of the impact of this condition,” Mishra explained. If you have any health concerns, you should always contact your GP in the first instance. There is also information available via NHS Scotland or Endometriosis UK. Read More Lena Dunham marks five years of sobriety: ‘Happiest of my time on earth’ ‘Some days things just do not work’: What happens when your smear test doesn’t go smoothly? Woman’s warning after terminal cancer mistaken for heavy periods 5 things you need to know about adenomyosis, the ‘evil twin sister’ of endometriosis Woman’s warning after lip filler left her unable to close mouth ‘Suddenly, I saw Dad again’: The radical tech helping those living with dementia

A woman horrified after lip filler left her unable to close her mouth has urged others to “do their research” before getting cosmetic surgery. Harriet Green, 23, wanted plumper lips after being influenced by videos on TikTok and influencers from Love Island, and went to a salon to get 1.1ml of filler in December 2022. Immediately after the procedure, which entailed a substance being injected into her face, Harriet’s lips started to swell up and bruise but she claims she was assured it was normal and they would go down within weeks. But three months later, her lips were still swollen and Harriet claims she was left with two painful lumps in her lips and unable to properly close her mouth. Harriet had to undergo three corrective procedures, costing £700 in total, to get her lips back to normal. Harriet, a council worker, from Acle, Norfolk, said: “This was the first time I had anything done. “On the way to my appointment, the woman at the salon told me to numb my own lips which now I realise you should not do. “When I was getting my lips done, it was painful but at that time I didn’t realise it is only painful when not done correctly. “Straight after they were very sore and started to bruise. “After all the bruising had gone, I had two hard lumps on my lip - one on the left and one on the right. “It made me feel so much more self-conscious - it was painful and uncomfortable.” Harriet got her lips done in December 2022 and paid £100 for 1.1ml of filler. After the procedure, Harriet thanked the aesthetics practitioner and headed home but started experiencing swelling and bruising on her lips - which she originally thought was standard. Harriet said: “I was assured that the bruising was normal, and it would go down. “But, after all the swelling and bruising had gone, I was left with two hard lumps. “I stopped going to the woman as I was annoyed, and people close to me started commenting on how my lips didn’t look good. “They said they could see unevenness in my lips and could see two lumps on the top tip. “I’d wake up in the mornings and my lips would be swollen.” Harriet found Dr Raja - a GP who runs her own aesthetics clinic in Norwich and underwent three corrective procedures - used to tissue to dissolve any hyaluronic acid-based filler - costing £700. Harriet said: “I had to get my lips dissolved three times as too much filler was put in and it was injected into the wrong place. “I had to go back three times before she could add new filler to my lips. “I have been lucky, don’t get me wrong, I still have lumps in my mouth, but people have had it a lot worse. “After getting my lips done it made me feel so much more self-conscious, it is painful and uncomfortable. “But now you can’t even tell I have had them done as I have had them done properly.” Originally, Harriet was injected with 1.1 mil and Dr Raja inserted 0.6 mil into her lips the second time around. Harriet said the world of cosmetic surgery is a “minefield” and it has put her off any cosmetic procedure for life. She said: “It is so common nowadays. “I don’t judge people - when you have never had anything done before, you don’t know what you should be looking out for. “Looking for what should go wrong and what should go right. “It is important to research the person, don’t just go off social media pictures like I did. “Look for healed pictures of someone’s lips, not just fresh off the needle as they will look nice and plump straight after.” Harriet believes that social media and reality shows like Love Island play a major role in people wanting to get cosmetic procedures. She said: “I won’t have anything done to my face now, at one point my TikTok was full of jaw filler and Botox which swayed me into wanting to get it done. “It seems like such a normal thing to do now - that is the problem. “Shows like Love Island, all the girls on there have had something done to enhance their look which is not natural. “You don’t really ever see anyone there who is ‘natural’ and not had something done. “It feels more common and appealing to others that if you have filler and botox you are seen as more attractive.” Read More Woman defends picking up ‘$8k’ sofa from New York street Couple with 37-year age gap who met when he was 15 have hopes dashed Eamonn Holmes makes startling claim about Phillip Schofield’s ‘nonsense’ This Morning statement

Flights were suspended at Sicily’s Catania airport on Sunday after Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, showered the city with a thick coating of ash. Ash fell across the runway and over the city of Catania, as well as on at least one town on Mount Etna’s slopes, according to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). The INGV, which closely monitors Etna with instrumentation on the slopes, noted that cloud cover on a rainy day impeded views of the eruption, which often serves up a spectacular display of flaming lava during the volcano’s not infrequent spells of heightened activity. No injuries were reported. Photos and videos taken after the eruption show a massive plume of ash rising out of the volcano, covering the sky. Some photos also show ash on people’s homes and cars. Catania airport said that due to ashfall, flight operations were temporarily suspended. The airport authorities said they are closely monitoring the situation and will resume flights once conditions permit. The INGV indicated that monitoring had recorded evidence of a stepping up in tremor activity in recent days. People in the towns of Adrano and Biancavilla reported hearing loud booms emanating from the volcano on Sunday, the Italian news agency ANSA said. Italy’s national Civil Protection Agency had noted on Thursday in an alert that in view of increased volcanic activity, “sudden” variations of Etna‘s activity could occur. In early 2021, an eruption of the volcano lasted several weeks. But it hasn’t unleashed a major eruption since 1922. Mount Etna, towering at approximately 3,330metres tall (10,926 feet), is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Due to its history of recent activity and the risk to nearby populations, Mount Etna has been added to the list of 16 Decade Volcanoes worldwide, a designation given by the United Nations to volcanoes that exhibit more than one volcanic hazard. The volcano is monitored continuously by scientists to ensure the safety of nearby communities, while studying the geological processes at play. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Mexico City airport briefly shutters due to eruption of volcanic ash Satellite imagery captures huge volcanic eruption in Russia Earthquake activity at two Alaska volcanoes could signal eruption, officials warn Travellers shocked after airline weighs woman on baggage scale Teenager fined by airline after attempting baggage hack of wearing all her clothes Disney’s new $2,400 a night Star Wars hotel forced to close after 18 months