Latest news with #AllPartyParliamentaryGroup
ITV News
14-05-2025
- Health
- ITV News
Couple welcome baby girl after eight years of infertility caused by polycystic ovary syndrome
A woman who lives with condition that affects the ovaries has "finally" welcomed a baby girl with her husband after eight years of infertility. Devika Digpal, 35, was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) when she was 13 and left to deal with a range of symptoms, from weight gain to excess hair. But it wasn't until she met her now husband Mandeep, and started to think about having a family, that she realised the condition was affecting her infertility. Devika said: "We were back and forth with the doctors seeing what was possible. IVF, fertility treatment. There are times when I just didn't want to be here anymore. PCOS really affects your mental health too." PCOS is a common condition that affects how ovaries work which in turn can impact periods and hormones and make it harder to get pregnant. The condition is thought to be very common, affecting about 1 in every 10 women and birthing people and is the leading cause of infertility in the UK. The couple, from Stockport, Cheshire, saved thousands for private ovulation treatment and welcomed their baby girl, called Harpreet, in November. "She has changed our lives for the better", Mandeep said. "She has completed our life." But Devika believes there is no real support out there for women living with the PCOS and more specialists should be available to help manage symptoms. "We have specialists for so many other conditions," Devika said. "I feel like it's not fair on women because they are not getting the support they truly deserve." Rachel Mormon, the chair of PCOS charity Verity, says one of the reason why PCOS is not widely spoken about is because there is still a taboo around women's health. But that could all soon change as Verity are now involved in an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). The first major project of the APPG is a Parliamentary Inquiry into the diagnosis and management of PCOS in the UK. Rachel said: "Women are not satisfied. They are often gaslit, they are ignored, they are dismissed so we're really excited for the potential for change that the APPG could bring. What are the three main features of PCOS? Irregular periods – which means your ovaries do not regularly release eggs (ovulation) Excess androgen – high levels of "male" hormones in your body, which may cause physical signs such as excess facial or body hair Polycystic ovaries – your ovaries become enlarged and contain many fluid-filled sacs (follicles) that surround the eggs (but despite the name, you do not actually have cysts if you have PCOS) If you have at least two of these features, you may be diagnosed with PCOS. Other symptoms include Difficulty getting pregnant as a result of irregular ovulation or no ovulation Weight gain Thinning hair and hair loss from the head Oily skin or acne What is PCOS caused by? The exact cause of PCOS is unknown but it is related to abnormal hormone levels in the body, including high levels of insulin, according to the NHS. Insulin is a hormone that controls sugar levels in the body. Many women with PCOS are resistant to the action of insulin in their body and produce higher levels of insulin to overcome this. This contributes to the increased production and activity of hormones like testosterone.
BBC News
02-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Jagtar Singh Johal 'moved to solitary confinement' after acquittal
A British Sikh who has been imprisoned in India on terror charges for more than seven years has now been moved into solitary confinement, according to his brother and a human rights Singh Johal from Dumbarton was detained on a trip to Punjab a few weeks after his wedding in 2017 accused of being a part of a series of targeted killings of religious and political figures.A series of nine criminal cases were launched against him in Punjab and in Delhi, but last month he was acquitted in the first of family and lawyers have always insisted that the evidence against him is almost entirely based on a confession given under severe duress. Jagtar Singh Johal's brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, told an All Party Parliamentary Group on arbitrary detention on Wednesday that his brother's conditions had worsened since his acquittal in the first case and that the family had been disappointed with a lack of urgency shown by the UK Johal said: "Jagtar's conditions in prison have deteriorated. He's had his basic privileges taken away and he's isolated in a cell on his own, not allowed to speak to other prisoners."As a result he's feeling mentally tortured." Mr Johal told the BBC that although his brother has been held in solitary confinement for periods in the past, the conditions in which he is being currently held are the most harsh he has faced for added that 4 March had been a joyful day for his family because of Jagtar's acquittal in the first case. They hoped that the other cases would also collapse because they are based on the same Johal said the British government had failed to seize an opportunity to act to call for his acquittal on all other charges and for his continued: "The Foreign Secretary has offered us a meeting, but that offer is for a meeting in seven to eight weeks' time. We believe that the meeting should be taking place a lot quicker than that."As it stands, we don't see the urgency, and we need to see the action from the government." Human Rights charity Reprieve said now was the moment to secure Jaghtar's executive director Dan Dolan said: "It's time for the British government to capitalise on that moment and say 'we need to bring him home now' and that is no disrespect to the Indian system, which recognises this principle. An Indian court has found Jagtar not guilty."Under the current government, the political leadership's mood music has changed at least. We don't hear so much talk of due process these days."But the proof is in the pudding, and we will need to see if that position has changes substantively as well as rhetorically."Both the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Indian High Commission (IHC) have been approached for IHC has always denied denied poor treatment of Jagtar Singh Johal.
Telegraph
02-04-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
MPs campaign to close last place people can smoke indoors
As the only public place where people can legally smoke indoors, the cigar lounge is a hold-out against the relentless anti-smoking agenda. But now, this last bastion of a bygone era, could soon be shut down by Sir Keir Starmer's Government. MPs are calling for cigar lounges to be closed, cigarette filters to be banned, and a 'polluter pays' levy to be imposed on the tobacco industry. Currently, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will outlaw smoking for anyone born from 2009 onwards and ban smoking and vaping outside hospitals, schools and parks. But in a new report, MPs want the legislation to go further and close the loophole on cigar lounges, which would see them shut down. Cigar lounges, such as those along the 'cigar mile' in London – a nickname for the area around St James' Street – have withstood decades of anti-smoking legislation, including the 2007 ban on smoking indoors, thanks to a special exemption that allows cigar shop customers to smoke on-site. However, the report by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Smoking and Health wants the Government to close the loophole for cigar lounges. It also calls for a widening of smoke-free and vape-free public places. Other proposals include a ban on 'all cigarette filters to remove the false sense of protection they provide and reduce the impact of smoking on the environment'. Critics have said this amounts to 'a de facto ban on cigarettes', given the filters are a legal requirement to limit the amount of tar and nicotine inhaled. The report said the tobacco industry should be forced to pay a 'polluter pays levy' to raise £700 million to fund initiatives that lower smoking rates and help close the gap in healthy life expectancy. It also recommended that the industry be made to publish sales data to 'support national tobacco control strategies' and told ministers to 'drive down' the affordability of tobacco to incentivise people to quit. The MPs also want cigarette packs, which have already got health warnings on the front, to have inserts inside the packs that would 'reinforce awareness of health harms'. Bob Blackman, Conservative MP and member of the APPG, said: 'This report sets out a comprehensive plan that accelerates our progress to a smoke-free UK. Further delay comes at too great a cost.' But critics argue that the nanny-state proposals are an attempt to manipulate public policy as a way to increase anti-smoking funds. Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: 'A ban on cigarette filters would be a de facto ban on all cigarettes because it is impossible to keep within tar and nicotine limits without the use of a filter.' He added: 'These prohibitionists have achieved everything they could have hoped for [with the Bill] but they can't stop now because they would be out of work. 'The call for a tobacco levy - which would just be another tax on smokers - is designed to create a slush fund for the anti-smoking lobby. The Government should recognise this as blatant rent-seeking.' 'Millions trapped by addiction' Mary Foy, Labour MP and co-chair of the APPG, said: 'The UK is set to introduce world-leading new laws that will protect future generations from the enormous harms of smoking, but we cannot ignore the millions of people still trapped by addiction. 'The only people who benefit from smoking are the tobacco industry, who generate huge profits from peddling misery and illness,' she said. 'It's time for them to pay for the damage they cause.' The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will also include a total ban on vape advertising and sponsorship, including displays seen by children and young people such as on buses, in cinemas and in shop windows, bringing them in line with tobacco restrictions. Disposable vapes will be banned from June 2025 under separate environmental legislation. Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of the charity Action on Smoking and Health, said: 'Smoking costs society in England £43.7 billion a year. A polluter pays levy on the tobacco industry would ensure that the tobacco industry is the one picking up the tab, not taxes on working people. 'The Government should consult on a levy ahead of the autumn Budget to allow time for legislation to be brought forward this year.'
