The Bold and the Beautiful Recap, July 17 Episode: Liam's Shocking Homecoming Stuns Hope and Steffy
Liam released after surgery
At the private surgical facility, Grace told Bill that Liam was ready for an MRI and would be sent home soon after. Bill questioned this decision, as Liam had just gone through major surgery. Grace reassured him that an ambulance, a nurse, and proper equipment would be provided. Bill was hesitant but agreed. He later confirmed a USD 1 million transfer to Grace, who seemed pleased and took a mysterious phone call saying 'it's happening now.'
Liam soon returned from the MRI, visibly weak. Grace mentioned that the MRI results would come later but cleared Liam to leave. Bill thanked her and took Liam home to his mansion, where a nurse was waiting. He asked the nurse about the MRI results, and she confirmed she would share them once available.
Hope and Steffy alarmed over Liam's sudden discharge
At the hospital, Finn and Bridget were concerned about Liam's early release. Bridget trusted Grace's judgment but still felt uneasy. When Finn called Steffy with updates and Hope joined in, both were confused to learn Liam had been discharged. Bridget also discovered Grace was no longer in the building.
Hope and Steffy rushed to the hospital to understand what was going on. Soon after, Bill called Steffy to share more details. He revealed that Liam had undergone an experimental procedure by Grace and her colleague. Finn, Bridget, Hope, and Steffy were all shocked, especially since Liam was already home recovering.
Despite their initial concern, Hope and Steffy were relieved to hear that Liam was doing well. They realized Beth and Kelly might not lose their father after all. The possibility of Liam being cured gave them hope.
Back at Bill's mansion, Bill remained by Liam's side and said this treatment had to work. He was confident Liam would recover and live a healthy life.
Elsewhere, Deacon doted on Sheila and called her a hero like Liam. Losing her briefly had shaken him, but Sheila comforted him and offered reassurance.
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Indian Express
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The fault in our salt: The condiment's cultural pull in India — and why it comes at a cost to public health
In one of Hindi cinema's most iconic scenes, Kalia in Sholay swears by a pinch of salt — 'Sardaar, maine aapka namak khaaya hai' — as he pledges his loyalty to Gabbar. The ubiquitous grainy white condiment failed to save his life and in the 50 years since, a shift in consumption patterns and lifestyles has seen salt slowly eating away at Indians' health. While the permissible amount of salt consumption, as prescribed by the World Health Organisation, is 5 gm a day per person (2,000 mg of sodium or about a teaspoon of salt), several studies have pointed to how Indians consume more than double the amount, posing risks of hypertension, stroke and heart diseases. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition's (ICMR-NIN) 2024 Dietary Guidelines for Indians, existing evidence reveals a 'deleterious impact of high salt intake on blood vessels and blood pressure', which in turn can cause heart attack, stroke and/or kidney problems. High amounts of salt in the body results in water retention, which further increases the pressure on the heart to pump larger volumes of fluid, causing hypertension. The primary culprit, experts agree, is ultra-processed food. According to the NIN's Dietary Guidelines, processed foods such as 'snacks, savouries, soups, sauces, ketchup, salted butter, cheese, canned foods, papads, and salted dry fish, salted nuts/dry fruits contribute to higher intake of salt. Preserved meats/vegetables and ready-to-eat foods contain a lot of sodium'. Prompted by the 'alarming' salt consumption patterns, earlier this month, ICMR-NIE (the National Institute of Epidemiology) launched Project Namak, a three-year-long community-led programme that focuses on salt reduction in individuals with hypertension. Sharan Murali, senior scientist at ICMR-NIE and the principal investigator of Project Namak, says, 'Our research team evaluated the hypertension component of the NP-NCD (National Programme for Control and Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases) programme in 21 districts in the country and understood that 78 per cent of the individuals with hypertension who come for follow-up receive some counselling for behavioural change in the OPD. This opportunity may be used to counsel the individuals with hypertension on dietary salt reduction as an add-on along with the medications.' Over the last two decades, there have been several such studies, including those published in the Journal of Hypertension, Journal of the American Heart Association and Nutrients, among others, that point to high salt intake among Indians. According to India Salt Market Report and Forecast 2025-2034 by Claight Corporation published this year, the India salt market reached around USD 2.32 billion in 2024. 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'On every continent', notes Mark Kurlansky in his book Salt: A World History, 'once human beings began cultivating crops, they began to look for salt to add to their diet. How they learned of this need is a mystery… however, most people choose to eat far more salt than they need, and perhaps this urge — the simple fact that we like the taste of salt — is a natural defense.' With that, salt became one of the most valuable commodities of trade. Kurlansky notes, 'Where people ate a diet consisting largely of grains and vegetables, supplemented by the meat of slaughtered domestic farm animals, procuring salt became a necessity of life, giving it great symbolic importance and economic value. Salt was one of the first international commodities of trade; its production was one of the first industries and, inevitably, the first state monopoly.' In India, salt holds a deeply symbolic value given how Mahatma Gandhi shook an empire with a fistful of salt with his Salt Satyagraha. While the origins of salt consumption are global, Indians took to salt more organically. In the absence of any recorded evidence, SubbaRao M Gavaravarapu, scientist and Head of Nutrition Information, Communication and Health Education at NIN, cites 'traditional knowledge' to explain Indians' tendency to consume higher amounts of salt. 'We are a tropical nation and many of our people would work outdoors and perhaps to compensate for the sodium loss through sweat, sodium was incorporated through food,' he says. To understand the detrimental effect of this condiment, however, it is important to know that salt (NaCl, with sodium and chloride ions in a 1:1 ratio) is only as harmful as its sodium content. And that, given our shifting eating patterns, sodium comes from more than just the salt we consume. While, as the NIN guidelines say, 'a major amount of sodium does come from the visible addition of salt', there are also innocuous ways sodium makes its way into our bloodstream. 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There were also concerns over whether low-sodium salt would cause hyperkalemia (excess potassium levels in the blood) in the elderly with renal function though there were successful trials in the US that said it was safe for them. But the findings weren't accepted because the trials were small,' Reddy says, while pointing to a study conducted in China by the George Institute for Global Health. With a 'fairly large' sample size of over 20,000 participants from 600 rural villages in five provinces in the country, the China Salt Substitute and Stroke Study (SSaSS), published in 2023 and conducted over five years, found that 'replacing salt with a reduced-sodium added-potassium 'salt substitute' significantly lowers the risk of stroke, heart disease, and death'. The institute has submitted a funding request to ICMR to conduct a similar study in India, said Dr Vivekananda Jha, Executive Director at The George Institute for Global Health, India. 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The Wire
a day ago
- The Wire
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