The tendency to stuff your face with food is often met with the urgent need to settle your stomach by laying on the couch for hours, especially during the holiday season. However, what some people fail to realise is that sprawling out after a big meal may not soothe your body like you think. Silent reflux, often referred to as laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), can potentially be caused by “overeating and lying down just after eating”, according to the UT Southwestern Medical Centre. With Thanksgiving fast approaching, it’s important to be aware of the symptoms and signs of LPR, ensuring you aren’t inadvertently subjecting your body to the condition. UT Southwestern Medical Centre defines LPR as “a condition in which stomach acid flows back up the esophagus [swallowing tube] into the larynx [voice box] and throat.” The name is derived from the inherent form of the condition, which doesn’t cause any symptoms in the chest. When you swallow food, the contents travel down the esophagus past two sphincters, a ring-shaped muscle on the lower and upper portions of the esophagus connected to the stomach. Before the gastrointestinal system digests the food, the sphincters close so the contents aren’t able to come back up the esophagus. “If the sphincter does not close properly, acidic stomach contents can flow back into the esophagus, up to the throat and larynx,” the medical centre states. Potential causes of LPR include alcohol use, tobacco use, “certain food choices” like spicy or fried foods, obesity, overeating habits, clothing that fits tightly around the abdomen, and lying down immediately after food consumption. While the condition doesn’t evoke chest-burning symptoms like other forms of acid reflux, there are a number of other symptoms associated with LPR. Asthma, hoarseness, postnasal drip, lump sensation in the throat, bitter taste in the throat, difficulty swallowing, sore throat sensation, and burning throat sensation are all symptoms of silent reflux. “LPR can be the underlying cause of hoarseness, laryngitis, chronic throat clearing and related symptoms. You might not have typical acid reflux symptoms, like heartburn or indigestion,” the Cleveland Clinic explains. “Symptoms of acid reflux usually affect your lower esophagus, within your chest. But if you have LPR, the reflux has a habit of creeping higher up, into your larynx (voice box) and pharynx [throat].” Certain foods and beverages can cause a breach in the lower esophageal sphincter; coffee, chocolate, mint, garlic, and onions all have the potential to cause LPR. Since there is no single cause of LPR, treatments include lifestyle and diet adjustments. “Some people can solve their LPR with lifestyle adjustments alone,” Cleaveland Clinic suggests. “It takes time for LPR to heal, though, so it may be several months before you can tell if your adjustments are working.” Medications called proton pump inhibitors are also offered to help move the healing process along. Surgery is only necessary in severe cases such as “an obvious defect affecting your esophageal sphincter muscles, like a hiatal hernia,” the Cleveland Clinic states. Read More Shingles symptoms, what causes it and how to treat the virus 13 possible cancer symptoms you should get checked out Salon owner with incurable cancer who lost hair in treatment makes customisable wigs

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The theme for the 2024 Met Gala has finally been revealed. On Wednesday 8 November, Vogue announced that the upcoming theme for the annual fashion gala will be “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”. The Met Gala, which is held each year on the first Monday in May, supports the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. According to Vogue, nearly 250 items will be drawn from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection - some rarely seen in public - to span 400 years of fashion history. The exhibit will feature a variety of fashion, from 17th century Elizabethan style items to contemporary pieces from designers like Phillip Lim, Stella McCartney, and Connor Ives. Iconic haute couture creators - such as Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, and Givenchy - will also be present throughout the collection. The museum’s exhibition will be centred around 50 historically significant and aesthetically pleasing pieces from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection, some of which are far too fragile ever to be worn again. More follows… Read More We can’t bash or boast billionaire Kylie Jenner’s brand – yet Former Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld says ‘no one’ wanted to dress Kim Kardashian Why does Philadelphia Eagles player AJ Brown wear pink shoes?

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A salon owner with incurable cervical cancer who lost her hair while having chemotherapy has said wearing wigs has given her “reassurance in a world where nothing is certain”, and she now sells handmade, customisable bespoke wigs to help others feel “confident” in their own skin. Amanda Humphrey, 43, who owns Saramanda1 hair salon in Great Denham, Bedfordshire, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in October 2017 after delaying her smear test by seven years. She underwent a radical hysterectomy in December that year – a surgical procedure to remove the womb and surrounding tissues – and was in remission weeks later. The cancer returned and Humphrey received her second cervical cancer diagnosis just two days before Christmas in 2021, and she then started chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She described this as “hell on Earth”, and within two weeks of starting chemotherapy the second time, she noticed her hair was being “blown out of [her] head” by the wind. Humphrey shaved her head and embraced her baldness but soon realised she missed having “that comfort blanket” – and she then searched “high and low” for a realistic, non-synthetic wig. Through her own searches, which were often fruitless, she realised that the number of people selling customisable wigs made of human hair in her area were few and far between. This led to Humphrey making and selling her own – and now, despite her uncertain prognosis, she said her mission is helping people struggling with hair loss feel like themselves again. “My message is I get it, and that’s why I love the wigs that we produce,” Humphrey told PA Real Life. “I’m proud of the wigs that we produce, and I’m so grateful that people choose us to be a part of their journey. “Every wig is made with love and strength, they are made from the heart, and me and my entire team, we all want them to be just perfect.” Cervical cancer is a cancer that is found anywhere in the cervix – the opening between the vagina and the womb. Symptoms include unusual vaginal bleeding, changes to vaginal discharge, pain during sex or pain in your lower back, the NHS says. Humphrey, who was working as a detective in London at the time and had only just opened her salon, said she had no symptoms prior to her diagnosis and “always found an excuse to cancel [her] smear test”. It was only when a colleague strongly encouraged her to book her smear test, seven years after she was first invited to have one, that she received her diagnosis in October 2017. She said she holds herself responsible for this and has since campaigned for other women to book their smear tests without delay by sharing the message “Don’t be me”. Speaking about her first diagnosis, she said: “I walked into the room and I looked at the consultant and, before I’d even sat down, I said ‘Have I got cancer?’ And he said ‘Yes’. “Then I said ‘Am I going to die?’ And he said, ‘I need to examine you and then I can tell you.’” Humphrey explained that telling her son, who she wishes to keep anonymous, was the hardest part, and she later underwent a radical hysterectomy, which was performed via keyhole surgery. A biopsy revealed she was in remission just weeks later, and while this was positive news she felt “lost” afterwards. She did not process the “trauma” of the cancer and the fact she could no longer get pregnant due to the radical hysterectomy until much later. “Emotionally I struggled because although I didn’t necessarily want more children, I wasn’t ready to to lose that option,” Humphrey explained. “I grieved not having more children, I grieved something I didn’t have, and I never sought help on that, ever. “Given it’s a gynaecological cancer as well, when I visit my local hospital for any appointment, I sit in a room with pregnant people waiting for their appointments. “They come out of their appointments happy, with their files and scan photos, and you’re sitting there, thinking ‘I can’t have that any more’.” In the years that followed, after Humphrey was medically retired from the police, she continued with cervical cancer awareness campaigns and focused on her salon. However, she started to experience agonising pain in her left leg in 2021 and could not pinpoint the exact source of it. After undergoing scans and tests, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer recurrence just two days before Christmas that year. She then underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which caused her to experience sickness, muscle aches, nose bleeds and ulcers in her mouth. During her second round of chemotherapy she lost her hair within two weeks. “I remember saying to one of the nurses ‘The next time I see you in three weeks, will I have hair?’ And she just said ‘No’, and it was true,” Humphrey said. “I was stood outside my salon on week two and it was really windy and I was trying to make a phone call outside. “I said to my colleague ‘My hair is being blown out of my head’ – it was literally just floating past us – so we shaved it off.” Humphrey said she embraced being “bald and proud” initially, but she missed the “comfort” that having hair gave her – and so her journey to creating her own human hair wigs began. Each wig starts from approximately £450, depending on the length and thickness, and can take up to three weeks to make as Humphrey and her team at the salon custom-colour each one. Humphrey said she will often “work into the night” to finish an order, if required, and some customers have even cried when seeing the finished product. She has since partnered with Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust as well, and for every wig sold through the charity she will donate 10 per cent of the proceeds to the organisation. She explained: “Wearing wigs has given me so much reassurance in a world where nothing is certain. “Just having a wig on gives me that comfort and ability to just be normal, and I want to help others achieve that feeling.” In October 2022, Humphrey was informed her cancer is incurable and she will most likely not reach remission again – however she is determined to keep fighting. She is now having pembrolizumab – a type of immunotherapy – and has regular check-ups, and although she was told that statistically she may only have 18 months to live, she said she wants to “prove everyone wrong, even if (she dies) trying”, and she will not stop her “passion” of making wigs for others. “The results we get are amazing, they’re happy, and being able to support someone with part of their journey is so rewarding – it’s always something I’ve wanted to do,” she said. “It helps them feel confident, and the comfort comes in, but it’s just the fact they can walk out their front door feeling normal.” She added: “If my journey can help someone in the future, then I’m all in.” To find out more about Humphrey and the wigs she and her team make, search @saramanda1_wigs on Instagram. For more information and support about cervical cancer, visit Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust’s website here. 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