
The Traitors: Elen Wyn says GPs laughed at her endometriosis fear
The Traitors contestant Elen Wyn has said she was laughed at by a GP and told she had a low pain threshold during her 10-year wait for an endometriosis diagnosis. Elen, from Anglesey, said she suffered with pain that felt like "barbed wire around her stomach" before her diagnosis, which she was told were "just period pains".She added GPs needed to treat women's health with greater sensitivity and called for better funding from the Welsh government. The Welsh government said it was spending £3m on a women's health hub in each health board by March 2026.
The Traitors star, originally from Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy in Anglesey - who was eliminated on episode two - said she was diagnosed just before appearing on the reality show in 2024 - 10 years after her symptoms started.Elen, now 24, said when her periods began at 14, she frequently missed school and sat out of sport, but a GP insisted she just had a low pain tolerance. She said she was offered a contraceptive pill if she was really struggling, but she did not feel comfortable with this option while not sexually active.She said she continued to suffer so badly she was unable to walk or leave the house. "Sometimes it's like you're being repeatedly stabbed," she said. "I knew it wasn't normal regardless of what I was told.".
She began to piece together that her symptoms closely aligned with endometriosis after seeing other sufferers on TikTok and, while studying in Cardiff when she was about 21, tried again to push for answers from medical professionals."I saw another GP but he said the same, that my pain tolerance was too low. "I remember him laughing at me, it was awful," she said.Elen then requested to see a female GP, who she said "completely validated" her and agreed she could have endometriosis. But when both an ultrasound and an MRI scan came back clear of the condition, Elen pushed for a laparoscopy keyhole surgery, and it was only then that her stage four endometriosis was detected.The disease has spread across Elen's bowel, bladder, fallobian tubes and kidney and, while she is currently on a four-year waiting list for surgery, she has been using her TikTok account to raise awareness about the condition.
What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis is an incurable chronic condition which affects 10% of people assigned female at birth who are of reproductive age in the UK. It sees cells similar to those found in the lining of the womb growing elsewhere in the body, such as the bladder and bowel. Symptoms include extremely painful periods, deep fatigue, bladder issues, trouble conceiving and pain during sex.
Research by charity Endometriosis UK found the average diagnosis time for endometriosis in Wales was nine years and 11 months in 2024. This was the longest diagnosis time across the UK and had increased from nine years in 2020.Elen said she was given no support from her GP while she awaited her diagnosis, adding: "I have been offered the coil or the pill, [but] other than that I was given nothing which is so frustrating."She said through her own research she has made changes to her lifestyle to manage her condition, including cutting down her alcohol and caffeine intake as well as engaging in low-impact exercise and prioritising sleep. "I don't suffer nearly as much as I used to... [but] I have done that all on my own," she said.
She added: "I think a narrative needs to be erased here. Because it's a condition associated with female hormones, people tend to link the symptoms with being dramatic and it's really frustrating to me."There is so much stigma around it and I think that stigma needs to be deleted." Elen has called on the Welsh government to offer more funding, better information and greater sensitivity to women's health. "I think GPs need to spend more time exploring their symptoms and offering other solutions rather than just the pill or the coil, it's ridiculous," she said. The Welsh government said endometriosis was one of the eight priorities outlined in its Women's Health Plan for Wales."We have already funded endometriosis nurses in every health board, developed the Endometriosis Cymru website and provided £50 million of additional funding to help cut the longest waiting times, which includes gynaecological conditions," it said.It added £3m would be used to establish a Women's Health Hub in every health board by March 2026, "to support timely diagnosis and management of menstrual conditions including endometriosis".

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Wales Online
10 hours ago
- Wales Online
Tonight's rugby news as Welsh region hit by sudden tragedy and King honours legend
Tonight's rugby news as Welsh region hit by sudden tragedy and King honours legend The latest rugby news stories from Wales and beyond Billy Boston being Knighted by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace Your evening headlines on Tuesday, June 10. Dragons club doctor dies The Dragons have paid tribute to their club doctor Graeme Yule after his sudden passing. The well-known GP, who was a senior partner at St Julian's Medical Centre in Newport, died unexpectedly over the weekend. He also worked with the Rodney Parade side and they have now paid their respects. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. In a statement, the club said: "Dragons RFC are deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of club doctor Graeme Yule. "All at the club want to thank Graeme for his diligent hard work and care throughout the Gwent region. Article continues below "We pass on our deepest condolences to Graeme's family and friends at this sad time." Dr Yule had dedicated more than 30 years of his working life to the care of patients in the city. "This is a profound loss for our practice and we know many of you will also feel his absence deeply," a statement from St Julian's Medical Centre read. "Our thoughts are with his family." Rugby legend's knighthood 'a little bit late' By Ellie Crabbe, PA 'Trailblazing' rugby league star Sir Billy Boston's honour came 'a little bit late', his son said, as his father became a knight in a first for the sport. Sir Billy, who scored 478 tries in 488 matches for Wigan after making the switch from rugby union in 1953, was knighted by the King in a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. The 90-year-old, who was born in Cardiff, revealed in 2016 that he was living with vascular dementia. Speaking after his father was knighted, Sir Billy's son Stephen said: 'It's a really great honour. I think it has come a little bit late. It could have come a little bit earlier.' Sir Billy's knighthood was awarded before the latest round of honours has been publicly announced amid concerns for his health. It comes after a campaign by local councillors, MPs and leading figures in the sport to get him honoured – and Sir Billy's family were supported by Josh Simons, the MP for Wakerfield, near Wigan, at the event. 'It should have been a lot, a lot sooner,' Sir Billy's son told the PA news agency. '130 years before a rugby league player got knighted. 'We're all really appreciative and very appreciative of all the support we've got from Wigan the rugby league club, the local MP and all the fans.' Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it was a 'historic wrong' that no rugby league player had been knighted before. He said: 'Billy Boston is a true trailblazer whose contributed hugely to rugby league. It is a historic wrong that a sport which is the backbone of so many communities has waited so long to receive this honour. 'Boston is a legend of the game who overcame prejudice to represent Great Britain and opened the door to a more diverse game. 'He's left a truly enduring legacy and the first knighthood in rugby league could not go to a more deserving player.' It is understood the Prime Minister has written to Sir Billy to congratulate him on the honour. In 1954, he made history as the first non-white player to be selected for a Great Britain rugby league Lions tour, scoring 36 tries in 18 appearances around Australia and New Zealand, including a then-record four in one match against the Kiwis. He made two more Lions tours in 1958 and 1962 and ended with 24 tries in 31 Test appearances for Great Britain. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons and former president of the Rugby Football League, said: 'Billy is a rugby league legend and his name is synonymous with the sport, having played for Wigan, as well as representing Great Britain. 'Billy was one of the 'codebreakers' from the Cardiff Bay area, who took the brave decision to switch from rugby union to rugby league – and faced hostility and prejudice as a result. However, his courage not only inspired future rugby greats to switch codes but it also encouraged generations of youngsters to take up the sport. 'Billy's strong running style, pace and agility were feared and admired by supporters and opponents alike and he remains Wigan's top try scorer to this day. 'He was a pioneer in the 1950s when he switched codes and is a pioneer to this day by ensuring rugby league gets the recognition it deserves. His story shows there should be no barriers to achieving your potential and that is what makes the knighthood so fitting.' Rebel league 'delusional' Mike Tindall's rebel breakaway league has been branded "delusional" by top broadcasting company TNT Sports. Tindall, who won the World Cup with England in 2003, has been revealed as one of the driving forces behind the league which has been charged with 'driving generational change in rugby' in the guise of a tournament called R360. It is targeting the best talent on the planet to be involved, which would run in two windows - one from April to June and the other from August to September - in order to make players available for internationals. The initial proposal is for 12 franchises, with eight male teams and four women's teams. But Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, which owns TNT, has been scathing in his assessment of the concept. 'I'm going to take my TNT Sports hat off just for the moment,' said Georgiou in the Telegraph. 'I've been involved in sport for 25 years. I can't tell you how many of these PowerPoint presentations have come across my desk with people who were absolutely certain that what they had on that page was going to be the new thing. It was going to be absolutely the new thing. 'I don't know the details of what's happening, no one's come to us and made a presentation, no one's told us what the new format is, no one told us what the new schedule is. I mean, I actually don't know much about it. But the one question that I think you guys should be asking is, 'how are they going to grow the revenue by putting this event on?' Where's the money coming from? The media industry is going through a massive generational change. There's been more change in the media industry in the last five years than there has been since the invention of cable television in the late 70s and early 80s. 'So, if these folks believe that they are going to grow the revenue by putting this thing on, I think they're delusional. I really do. What it will do is further complicate what is already a well-functioning rugby ecosystem. "And so I would just ask some pretty fundamental questions around whether this is a commercially sustainable model. The fact that it's being likened to LIV Golf, I think is a perfect analogy. It's a perfect comparator to what this is really going to be. Commercially unsustainable.' England call up World Cup winner's son By PA Sport Staff England head coach Steve Borthwick has named 16 uncapped players in a 36-man training squad to prepare for the upcoming match against France and summer Tests against the United States and Argentina. The group does not include players selected for the British and Irish Lions, or players from Bath and Leicester, who will contest the Gallagher Premiership final on Saturday. Among the list of debutants is 21-year-old Saracens scrum-half Charlie Bracken, son of Kyran Bracken, who made 51 appearances for England and was part of the squad that won the 2003 World Cup. The squad will converge on the England Rugby Performance Centre at Pennyhill Park for a four-day training camp, prior to the final summer touring squad being announced on June 23. Article continues below Regulars named in the group include the likes of George Ford and Henry Slade, while George Furbank continues his rehabilitation from injury and Joe Batley and George Martin are among a number of players who remain sidelined.


The Guardian
10 hours ago
- The Guardian
Swing time: experts weigh in on TikTok's kettlebell challenge
We've all seen the headlines around the importance of strength training. But if you're not a regular gym goer, it can feel intimidating to know where to begin. What is the difference between sets and reps? How many should you do? What if you don't want to turn into the Hulk? The latest viral fitness trend of doing 100 kettlebell swings a day for 30 days might seem like a straightforward way in. TikTokers' videos showing them doing the challenge seem to have struck a chord, racking up millions of views, and promising the regime can flatten your stomach, make your glutes stronger and help with back pain. But experts warn people – especially beginners – to treat the trend with caution. While they encourage people of all ages to start strength training, for some, doing 100 kettlebell swings a day might be an 'injury waiting to happen'. Kettlebell training has been shown to increase muscle mass, which makes your bones stronger, and has been shown in some cases to help reduce fat mass as well as improve back and neck pain, Dr Kim Way, an exercise physiologist and lecturer at Deakin University, says. However, those studies have not assessed doing 100 kettlebell swings a day – typically they have examined some form of kettlebell exercises two to three times a week, Way said. 'There's certainly a lot of difference in … the amount of stress that's being placed on the body, in terms of exercising every day versus having some recovery to allow for the body to essentially adapt,' Way said. A/Prof Justin Keogh, an exercise scientist at Bond University, said the health benefits also depended on the weight of kettlebell used. A heavier weight will help increase strength, muscle power and mass, while doing more repetitions with fewer rest periods will improve strength and endurance, may reduce body fat, and can have cardiovascular health benefits, he said. Kettlebell swings can be advantageous because you have to coordinate different upper and lower body segments and it mirrors the movement patterns that are 'more similar to what life throws at us,' Keogh said. Doing 100 kettlebell swings a day carries the risk of 'going a little bit too hard, too early', Keogh says. 'The chance that your hamstrings, lower back, forearms, etc, are going to feel really tight the next three or four days … is pretty high, and then you might not want to do any exercise over those next couple of days.' Keogh encourages people to start strength training carefully and gradually intensify their workouts in order to minimise their chance of what's known as delayed onset muscle soreness, which occurs when muscles that haven't been used to the level of exertion get quite sore for several days post-exercise. Way also agrees 100 kettlebell swings is 'quite a lot of swinging', especially if done every day. 'What I see with trends like this is that you're getting people excited about an exercise, which is great … but exposing people, especially if they haven't had any exposure to an exercise, that's just an injury waiting to happen because you haven't had the time to allow your body to adapt to the muscle stress, and the joint stress, that potentially this exercise will be placing on the system,' they said. Way is also concerned people might not be developing the correct technique. 'While the kettlebell swing might not necessarily look like a super complex movement – and compared to other exercises, it might not be – but even if you've just got a little part that's a bit wrong, it can put yourself into an area of potential injury.' They encourage people to find resources to ensure that they're using the correct technique. Way also advises if a person is new to exercise, they should listen to their body because if they start to fatigue, 'this is where technique can really quickly break down' and make injury more likely. Our genes largely determine the maximum size and strength of our bones, which is what's called 'peak bone mass', but exercise can also influence whether we reach our full bone mass potential by the age of 25-30. People generally begin to lose bone mass from the age of around 40 onwards. Keogh says it's better to begin resistance training earlier because then your muscle and bone mass will reach a higher peak. 'But again, we do know that regardless of the age that you start resistance training, you will get benefits compared to those people who [aren't].' Way says that types of exercise like yoga and pilates, which require us to use our body weight as a form of resistance, are 'a great way' to get into resistance training. However, people should keep in mind that if they use body weight exercises for their main form of resistance training there probably is a 'ceiling effect' once you are strong with your own body weight. Then using external weights – whether at the gym or finding weights at home through using cans of food or filling backpacks – can be helpful to get some resistance. Way emphasises 'it doesn't need to be a lot' – sometimes the big fear people have is that to do weight training they have to emulate bodybuilders online who are training for two or three hours each time. 'It actually can be pretty simple,' Way said. You can just strip it down, allocating five to eight exercises targeting your main muscle groups (your chest muscles, back muscles and leg muscles), and doing two to three sets, anywhere between eight and 15 repetitions. 'When you're trying to get into exercise, the best form of movement is always going to be the one that you enjoy. Resistance training or weight training is definitely a great one, because it gives you a really big host of benefits,' Way says. Natasha May is Guardian Australia's health reporter Antiviral is a fortnightly column that interrogates the evidence behind the health headlines and factchecks popular wellness claims What health trend do you want examined? Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian.


Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Common pill is putting millions at risk of life-threatening breathing problems, doctor warns
They are pills prescribed to millions in the UK to treat heart conditions and anxiety. But beta blockers may pose a hidden risk to the 7.2 million people living with asthma, an NHS GP has warned. According to the British Heart Foundation, UK doctors issue more than 50 million prescriptions for beta blockers every year. However, Dr Sooj, a family doctor with over 250,000 TikTok followers, cautioned that the drugs can interfere with the way asthma medications work—potentially putting some patients at risk during an attack. Asthma causes symptoms such as wheezing, coughing and chest tightness. While generally manageable, it can become life-threatening, when severely inflamed airways make it extremely difficult to breathe. Asthma UK reports that around 1,200 people die from asthma attacks each year in the UK, while in the US the figure is over 3,500. In a TikTok, Dr Sooj explained: 'If you have asthma you need to be cautious and we need to make sure you're aware of any of the risks and potential complications of taking a beta blocker.' He continued: 'The medications we use in an acute asthma attack are called beta agonists—these help to dilate the pipes in your lungs.' Dr Sooj explained that these beta agonists, found in many common inhalers, work by relaxing the muscles in the airways, making it easier to breathe. But beta blockers—used to slow the heart rate and lower blood pressure—can blunt this effect. 'By doing that, they can worsen the symptoms of asthma,' he said. And it's not just people with asthma who may be affected. Inhalers are also routinely prescribed to those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an umbrella term covering long-term lung conditions such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. These incurable conditions can also cause severe breathing difficulties, and for this group too, beta blockers may pose a risk. The NHS advises patients with asthma or lung disease to inform their doctor before starting beta blockers, to ensure the medication is safe. That said, Dr Sooj added: 'I've seen lots of patients with COPD or asthma who are on beta blockers and they're completely fine with them.' 'But this is a discussion that you should be having with your own doctor.' Dr Sooj added that he still believed beta blockers to be 'excellent medications', and explained developments in the drugs that has improved them. 'We now have cardio selective beta blockers, which... affect the body a bit less.' The new warning follows concerns that a type of beta blocker called propranolol can put patients at risk of 'toxic overdose'—triggering seizures, depression and even cardiac arrest in high doses. Recent research showed the number of prescriptions for propranolol to treat anxiety in the UK doubled between 2003 and 2018. In theory, by keeping blood pressure low, feelings of panic and anxiety are reduced. However some experts have claimed there 'no evidence' that drugs are effective for mental health, and that patients often aren't adequately warned about risk of an overdose. In a recent letter to The Guardian, pharmacist Christopher Sullivan warned that the drug 'is associated with significant adverse outcomes' and urged GPs to exercise 'extreme caution when prescribing these medicines for anxiety'. 'Prescribing these medicines for anxiety is not recommended in national evidence-based guidelines,' he added. It followed comments from GP Dr Amir Khan, who told the newspaper that propananol had been linked to 'higher rates of depression' and warned GPs not to prescribe it to anxious patients who also suffer low mood. 'If you are taking them long term, you can't suddenly stop them,' he added. 'You need to be weaned off them.' The risks are not thought to pertain to those taking the medicine for heart problems and other physical issues like migraine—but experts say patients with mental health troubles are vulnerable to either accidentally or purposefully taking an overdose.