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Facts about Chlamydia

What is Chlamydia?
Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by a tiny bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis. Most people who are at risk of this infection don’t really know what it is, or understand it, even if they have heard about it.

How do I know if I should be tested?
Chlamydia is almost always transmitted through sexual intercourse – the likelihood of having the infection depends on your sexual behaviour. The more partners you have, the more likely you are to be exposed to infection. However, you only need to have unprotected sex with one person who happens to have the infection and you can catch it. You don't have to be promiscuous to get Chlamydia.

Who is most at risk from Chlamydia?
The infection is most common and most likely to cause serious complications in younger women. If you are under 25 and sexually active, you have a 1 in 10 chance of having Chlamydia and the risk is even higher if you are under 20 and have had unprotected sex, so it may be worth getting checked out.

What are the symptoms?
Some women may have symptoms such as cystitis, change in vaginal discharge or mild lower abdominal pain. These are very 'non-specific’ symptoms and can be caused by other infections and diseases.

What if tests show I have Chlamydia?
If you are infected consult your doctor and he will prescribe a course of antibiotics. Also make sure your sexual partner also gets treatment. Otherwise, the untreated partner just becomes re-infected. Repeated infection can cause far worse fertility problems in women. If possible, encourage your ex-partners to take get tested, because this infection can stay unrecognised for months, if not years.
SELFCheck Female Chlamydia Test
This test is part of Pasante’s SELFCheck home screening tests range, and allows consumers to test in the privacy of their own homes, with having to send off for results or having to queue in the doctor’s surgery. It allows you to take active interest in your own health. SELFCheck Chlamydia Test will give you full reliable results in just 10 minutes.
RRP £14.99

Stockists: Superdrug, selected Tesco stores, Independent pharmacies and www.selfcheck-tests.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exam nerves? Try these helpful tips!

Wrist Angel has helped many students in the run up to exam time encouraging positively and alleviating stress. Here are some tips that will help you on your way to a worry free exam period.

1. Think about what you eat before and during the exams. High fat, high sugar and high caffeine foods will not help the brain.

2. Plan treats, all work and no play leads to despondency.

3. Take breaks often, this helps to stimulate the brain and be more focused.

4. When you get nervous or worried, simply open your Wrist Angel and breathe in the natural aromas to focus and calm you.

5. Lastly, get a good night sleep. Try putting a couple of drops of Lavender essential oil on your pillow.

Wrist Angels are available in Soothing Stress, Purely Positive and Powerful Pick Me Up; gift sets are available from £4.95 and have a sample of each blend.
Available from www.wristangel.co.uk.

 

 

 

MySpace

It is the ultimate teen hang out for those age 14 and above where you can share interests, photos, make new friends and get to know existing friends a whole lot better. It is a fun way to share information about yourself but always proceed with internet safety in mind.

All that is required to get a MySpace page is an email address to sign up. You also need to certify that you are at least 14 years of age. MySpace does not want children under the age of 14 and if they find out they are they will discontinue the service. MySpace tries to police it but they have no way of knowing if their member is actually 14.
You can make your MySpace page private where only friends you designate are allowed to see your page.
MySpace makes it easy to post all about you. The first thing you do is post a profile with your name, town, interests, school, sexual orientation, books and movies you like, who your heroes are and much more. A popular topic is to post questionaires on the MySpace page so you can share very specific information about yourself. Always bear in mind that a lot of people can see that information!
The main safety rule is that do not post too much identifying information, especially your last name.
Do not be alarmed when 29 year old Tom appears as your friend, as he is the creator of MySpace and appears as a friend to everyone!

MySpace can be fabby fun - use it but don't abuse it.

 

 

 

Keeping your mobile bill under control

Ringtones, text alerts and multimedia messaging are becoming more and more popular. But before you know it, the costs can start adding up and you'll end up with a bill that could push you into debt.
When you're buying your first phone or looking to save some money, it's important to choose the right tariff for your lifestyle. Mobile operators have a wide range of talk plans that offer different amounts of free talk time and text messages every month. To choose the best deal for you, think about:

- when you'll spend the most time on your phone. Will you make a lot of calls during the day or will you wait until after 7 pm?
- what networks your friends use. If they're on lots of different ones, you'll probably save money by making sure that your monthly amount of free minutes cover any network.
- how many texts you'll be sending a month. Find out which tariffs offer the most amount of free texts per month if you know you're going to be sending a lot.
Also, keep an eye out for any new offers advertised by mobile companies. Your circumstances may change to suit a different type of contract or deal. It's easier than you think to change your talk plan, so don't hesitate to change if you think you'll save some money.
Downloading a ringtone is a very popular way of personalising your phone and making it more individual. We've all seen the huge amount of adverts trying to persuade you to add a tone, wallpaper or new game to your mobile, but a simple download is often not the only thing you'll be charged for.

In some cases, when ordering a tone, you've often agreed to join a mobile club which means you might get text messages offering you more content for your mobile. What many people don't realise is that you might be charged a premium rate for every message.

If you do want to order a tone from a club, it's important you know how much you'll be charged for everything you receive and how you can unsubscribe if you want to stop being a member. You'll be able to find this information in the small print at the bottom of any advert. If you're having trouble understanding it, ask an older relative to help you out.
The majority of phones now allow you to access the internet from your handset, allowing you to check your emails and surf the web while you're out and about. Although you may think that doing this is just another phone call, it's not.

Costs vary according to your price plan, but if your contract doesn't mention it, you may be charged by the amount of information you send and receive every time you access the web on your phone. Even looking at a few pages can lead to a charge that you may not have been expecting.

If you do want to use your mobile like this, look for tariffs that include internet and WAP usage in the cost of your monthly line rental.
Most mobile phone operators offer to send you the latest news headlines or football results as a text alert direct to your phone.

Although this is a service from your provider, you are charged for these separately and they're not always included as part of any free text offers you may have as part of your contract.

If you no longer want text alerts sent to your phone, make sure you cancel the service straight away. Your provider or phone instruction booklet should tell you how to do this.
It's always fun to send your mates photos and videos to let them know what you're up to. But it's important to remember that these sorts of messages are not included in your monthly free text allowance and a charged on a per message basis.

In fact, multimedia messages can often cost double the amount of a normal text message.

If you think you're likely to send a lot of photo or video messages, find out whether your mobile company sells monthly multimedia 'bundles'. This can save you money on the cost of every message and can help keep your bill down.

Source: www.direct.gov.uk