Latest news with #PHC
Express Tribune
20 hours ago
- Express Tribune
PHC rejects bail pleas in wheat theft scandal
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has dismissed the bail applications of suspects accused of embezzling 3,300 bags of wheat from the Azakhel wheat storage facility. The hearing was conducted by Justice Syed Arshad Ali, with the suspects' lawyers, Additional Director of Food Imran Jadoon, Additional Advocate General Inaam Yousafzai, and other officials in attendance. The defense argued that suspect Arshad was serving as a storage officer in Azakhel, while Talha Muhammad was a former employee. They are accused of misappropriating wheat worth millions of rupees, but, according to the defense, other individuals were also implicated in the case. The lawyers maintained that there were no criminal charges or concrete evidence against their clients, whose duties were limited to maintaining records. The Additional Advocate General informed the court that the Chief Justice had already rejected the bail petitions of other accused in the same case. He said that 3,300 bags of wheat had gone missing from the storage facility, causing a loss of over Rs190 million to the national exchequer. The defense countered that no shortage occurred during their clients' tenure and that documentary evidence supported this. They also offered to personally bear the cost of weighing the wheat stock. Additional Director of Food Imran Jadoon told the court that while the paperwork appeared in order, the stock was found short, and a letter had been sent to the Chief Secretary requesting a high-level inquiry. The Additional Advocate General added that two other suspects had withdrawn their bail applications from the Supreme Court after rejection. With the trial ongoing in the lower court, the PHC dismissed the current bail applications, keeping the accused in custody.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
PHC reserves verdict in missing wheat case
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has reserved its verdict on a bail petition filed by an accused in the high-profile case involving the disappearance of wheat from the Azakhel storage facility. The hearing was presided over by Justice Syed Arshad Ali, who grilled the Anti-Corruption Department's representative over the progress of the investigation. "What progress have you made so far? the judge asked. "Have you even read your own audit report? Where is the auditor? What is this performance? The audit correspondence looks fine on paper, but there's a shortage of wheat on the ground. This is the state of your department, you're relying entirely on others." The hearing saw the appearance of the petitioner's lawyer Advocate Farooq Malik, Additional Director Food Imran Jadoon, and Additional Advocate General Inam Yousafzai, among others. Arguing for bail, the defense counsel maintained that the petitioner was not solely responsible, asserting that others were also involved. He stressed that there were no criminal charges or concrete evidence against his client, whose role was limited to maintaining records. "As long as he was in charge, no discrepancy occurred, and relevant documentation supports this. He is even willing to have the wheat weighed at his own expense," the lawyer argued. In response, Additional Advocate General Inam Yousafzai informed the court that similar bail petitions filed by other accused had already been rejected by the Chief Justice. He stated that over 3,300 sacks of wheat were missing from the storage facility, causing a loss of more than Rs190 million to the national treasury. Justice Arshad Ali sharply criticized the performance of the Anti-Corruption Department during the hearing. When the department's representative claimed that an audit had been conducted, the judge responded, "Then check your report. Where is the auditor? What are you people doing? The wheat is missing on the ground, and your department still depends on others to get the job done." Additional Director Food Imran Jadoon told the court that while the paperwork appeared to be in order, the physical stock was short. "We've written to the Chief Secretary, requesting a high-level inquiry," he added. The Additional Advocate General reiterated that the case involved significant financial loss to the national exchequer. He also noted that two other suspects in the case had already had their bail pleas rejected, and later withdrew their petitions filed before the Supreme Court. The case is currently under trial in the lower court.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Three diets that are more effective than weight-loss drugs, according to doctors
The weight-loss jab boom is in full swing. With celebrities showing off dramatic transformations, #ozempicbody trending on TikTok, and many buying GLP-1 drugs like Mounjaro, Wegovy and Ozempic to slim down for beach holidays, it's estimated 1.5 million Britons are now using weight-loss drugs – with 95 per cent accessing them privately, from online pharmacies or weight-loss clinics. There was good news recently for anyone hoping to try the latest weight-loss injections: the NHS announced that Mounjaro will now be available through GP surgeries in England for patients with severe obesity and the 'highest clinical need'. Over the next three years, almost a quarter of a million people are expected to benefit. GLP-1 drugs, originally designed to treat type-2 diabetes, are widely hailed as a game changer for tackling obesity. Clinical trials suggest the jabs can help users lose 15-20 per cent of their body weight. They regulate blood-sugar levels and may improve conditions linked to excess weight, including high blood pressure, fatty liver disease and sleep apnoea. However, as the Mounjaro rollout begins, concerns are mounting among doctors and public health experts that the GLP-1 gold rush is distracting from safer, more sustainable solutions for solving the UK's ailing metabolic health. Alongside the soaring demand, reports of GLP-1 side effects are growing: from nausea and constipation to gallbladder problems and, now, hundreds of cases of pancreatitis. 'There's been a rush to embrace GLP-1 drugs as a magic bullet, but we're not talking enough about the risks,' says Dr David Unwin, award-winning GP and scientific adviser to the Public Health Collaboration (PHC), a charity that champions lifestyle-based approaches to metabolic health. 'A BMJ investigation shows there have been 82 deaths associated with these medications. Yet most patients assume the drugs are safe. People are accessing them online, without proper medical supervision. It's like the Wild West.' While he acknowledges GLP-1s have a role to play, he and other doctors are concerned the drugs are being promoted as a fix-all, and are quietly proving that targeted diet and lifestyle programmes can achieve similar results – without side effects. 'You can stimulate your own GLP-1, naturally, through food and exercise,' says Dr Unwin, who is known for pioneering the low-carb diet for obesity and diabetes in the UK. 'A low-carb, high-protein diet is shown to boost GLP-1 levels. And it doesn't come with nausea or cost a fortune.' Dr Campbell Murdoch is a GP with a special interest in metabolic health who launched a Metabolic Health 28-Day Plan combining a high-protein, low-carb diet with time-restricted eating, movement, easy lifestyle changes and mindset support. Originally created for NHS patients at his practice in Somerset, the results were so positive, the programme has been made freely available online. 'The GLP-1 boom has at least put metabolic health on the radar,' says Dr Murdoch. 'Now we need to give people complete solutions, including lifestyle, not just the drugs.' Here are the three diets doctors recommend. Low-carb diet Key benefits: simple and sustainable The low-carb diet is proven to get results and can curb food cravings, reverse type 2 diabetes and deliver comparable weight loss to GLP-1s, suggests latest research. Cutting down on sugar and starchy carbs deprives the body of its primary fuel, glucose. It starts burning body fat instead, leading to weight loss. Blood-sugar levels stabilise, appetite regulates, and insulin levels fall, leading to better metabolic health and lower risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Dr Unwin has been spearheading the low-carb approach at his NHS clinic in Southport for the past 13 years, with striking results. 'On average, patients lose 10kg (22lbs) in the first year,' he says. 'We've helped 151 people achieve drug-free diabetes remission. That's 27 per cent of our diabetic population. We've saved £370,000 on diabetes medication.' In total, 51 per cent of Dr Unwin's patients with type 2 diabetes achieve remission, another 47 per cent get better control over their condition. And over 90 per cent of patients with pre-diabetes return to normal blood-sugar levels. Dr Unwin's approach has been adopted all over the world, through The Low-Carb Program and a free NHS-approved app. The method is simple, says Dr Unwin. 'Eat a nutritionally dense diet that doesn't raise your blood sugar.' Officially, low carb means eating less than 130g of carbs a day (for context, one apple is 25g, a bowl of pasta 40g). However, Dr Unwin recommends focusing less on numbers and more on cutting out sugar and starchy carbs, like bread, cereals and potatoes, while increasing protein and green veg. A typical low-carb meal might be baked salmon with asparagus and cauliflower rice. 'When you eat in a way that doesn't spike blood sugar, and includes enough protein, you stay feeling full, partly through natural, GLP-1 production,' explains Dr Unwin. Kirsten Linaker, 48, turned to the low-carb diet after weight-loss injections failed to help her. 'Dr Unwin gave me simple diet advice and a blood-glucose monitor, so I could see how foods like chocolate spiked my blood sugar,' she says. 'Now, I've lost almost 6st and have gone from size 26 to 14. I'm off my diabetic medication, and my food cravings have gone. I used to sit in bed at night, eating biscuits, now I'm just not hungry anymore. I don't even miss sweet stuff.' If you're following a low-carb diet, be sure to include nutritious foods, rich in fibre. If you have an existing medical problem, see your GP first. Keto diet Key benefit: rapid results The ketogenic, or 'keto' diet, is a more restrictive, high-fat, even lower carbohydrate approach designed to induce a fat-burning state in the body called ketosis. Followers of the diet aim for 20-50g carbs per day (drastically less than the 130g as on the low carb diet). It's proven to offer immediate weight loss and appetite suppression, along with metabolic-health benefits. 'In my experience, the keto diet gives the same benefits as GLP-1s, such as reduced appetite and elimination of food noise, without the side effects,' says Dr Eric Westman, associate professor of medicine at Duke University and director of the Duke Keto Medicine Clinic. When carb intake is drastically restricted, the body switches into ketosis, a metabolic state in which it burns fat for fuel, by converting it to ketones. This reduces blood glucose and insulin, and lowers levels of the hunger hormone, ghrelin. People can lose several pounds in the first week, gradually slowing to a more sustainable rate. Dr Westman's clinical research has shown that a keto diet can put type 2 diabetes into remission. Around 98 per cent of his patients with type 2 diabetes come off insulin. 'Patients typically lose one to two pounds a week,' he says. 'I can safely de-prescribe medications for diabetes, hypertension, heartburn and arthritis.' A meta-analysis of trials, in Nutrients, found that ketogenic diets gave better weight loss and blood-sugar control than a low-carb diet. Sharon Grey, 56, was almost 18st and living with type 2 diabetes, Nash (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease), high blood pressure and depression before she began Dr Westman's keto programme ( After 13 months, her weight had dropped to 12st 8lb. 'I reversed my type 2 diabetes and Nash, and my blood pressure is normal again,' she says. 'My headaches, backache and knee pain improved, my mood is better and I'm taking fewer medications.' The key to keto success is to keep carbs under 50g a day. Include plenty of protein, says Dr Westman. 'Protein is critical as it helps you feel full, and ensures you lose fat, not muscle,' he says. 'Don't overdo the dietary fat - if you eat too much of it, your body will burn that, rather than body fat.' His top five keto foods are eggs, meat or poultry, seafood, non-starchy veg (like cauliflower or broccoli) and leafy greens. So when should you choose keto, rather than a low-carb diet? 'Keto isn't always necessary, but in severe cases, it can be beneficial,' says Dr Murdoch. 'The keto diet offers rapid results and some patients feel better on it,' adds Dr Unwin. 'However, it's more complicated than a standard, low-carb diet, and not essential for reversing type 2 diabetes.' Transitioning to ketosis can trigger temporary fatigue and nausea, called 'keto flu'. If you're on medication, or have a medical condition, only try keto under medical supervision, advises Dr Westman. Intermittent fasting Key benefits: cheap and effective If you don't like calorie counting, focusing on when you eat, rather than what you eat, could be the solution. Intermittent fasting – alternating periods of eating and fasting, such as the popular 5:2 diet – can lead to an average weight loss of five to nine per cent of body weight over three to 12 months, according to research. 'When we don't eat, the body moves into fat-release mode,' explains Dr Murdoch. 'Fasting gives the body longer to use up stored sugar and burn body fat. That's why it improves blood-sugar control, too.' Among the most effective fasting methods is time-restricted eating (TRE), where you consume your food within a defined window each day, followed by an overnight fast. A study at Manchester Metropolitan University found that just three days on the 16:8 method (eating within an eight-hour window and fasting for 16 hours) significantly improved blood-sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes. 'TRE offers promising benefits for weight loss, glucose regulation and metabolic health – without calorie counting,' says study lead Dr Kelly Bowden Davies. 'While average weight loss is typically less than with GLP-1 drugs, prolonged use of TRE is a cheaper, safer and more accessible alternative – especially when combined with lifestyle changes.' That's the approach taken by Dr Murdoch with his Metabolic Health 28-Day Plan. It combines time-restricted eating (11am-7pm), focusing on lower-carb (often under 70g a day), high-protein (1-2g per kilo of body weight a day) foods, daily movement (for example, squats while the kettle boils) and seven hours' sleep, presented as a tick list of 10 daily habits. 'People often lose half a stone to a stone in the first month,' says Dr Murdoch. 'Blood pressure, blood sugar, mood and energy all improve. It's as effective as GLP-1s, for a fraction of the cost, and with far better sustainability.' Donna Brewer, 48, weighed nearly 22st when she started the plan in April. 'I'd gradually gone from a size 14 to a 24. I felt sluggish, tired, anxious, and my blood pressure was dangerously high,' she says. 'After 28 days, I'd lost almost one-and-a-half stone. Now I'm down more than 2st, my waist's shrunk from 130cm to 118cm, and I'm off medication. I feel so much happier and more energetic. It's not like a diet – more a shift in mindset.' The health risks of GLP-1s Using GLP-1 drugs without nutrition advice or lifestyle support can lead to malnutrition and even accelerated ageing, caution experts. 'GLP-1s reduce appetite but if you simply eat less of a regular, poor diet, you risk becoming deficient in protein and nutrients – and this drives muscle loss,' says Dr Murdoch. 'We're already seeing muscle loss and then weight regain when people stop taking the drugs.' An Oxford University review found that most people regain the weight within 10 months of stopping GPL-1s. 'The drugs are only licensed for two years [and many patients give up earlier],' says Dr Murdoch. 'After that, if you haven't changed your habits, the weight comes back – and you've lost muscle along the way, which is hard to get back.' In a recent clinical trial, 42 per cent of over-60s lost at least 10 per cent of their muscle power – the equivalent of ageing 7.5 years – within six months of taking the GLP-1 drug semaglutide. 'You need to pair these drugs with resistance training and proper nutrition, particularly protein,' says Dr Murdoch. GLP-1s do have a role to play, say the doctors. 'For people addicted to ultra-processed food or who struggle to give up starchy carbs, GLP-1s can be a temporary tool, if combined with nutritional support,' says Dr Unwin. 'I recently had a 75-year-old patient who lost a stone and a half and came off insulin by combining a GLP-1 with a low-carb diet.' However, he and other doctors are concerned the drugs are being promoted as a fix-all. 'The way weight-loss drugs are being pushed as a default solution is worrying,' says Dr David Jehring, chairman of the PHC, chief executive of Black Pear Software and creator of Elevate, a new AI personal health coach, soon to be trialled in the NHS. 'GLP-1s are now so widely available, primary care services are being told they don't need to offer dietary interventions.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Provide best medical services to those visiting PHCs: Nandyal Collector
Collector Rajakumari Ganiya asked the medical officers to provide the best possible services to those visiting primary health centres (PHCs). The Collector was on a tour of Gospadu mandal headquarters, during which she visited the PHC, Rythu Seva Kendram, and a private fertiliser shop. During her visit to the PHC, Ms. Rajakumari Ganiya enquired about the staff strength, the number of pregnancy deliveries, availability of medicines, and how expired tablets were being disposed. She said that people visit government hospitals with a belief that quality medical care would be available and asked the staff to meet their expectations. Ms. Rajakumari Ganiya asked the staff to create awareness among the people about the benefits of delivering at a government hospital and to increase the number of deliveries. She said that steps would be taken to fill staff vacancies, if any, and asked the staff to maintain clean and hygienic conditions on the PHC premises. The Collector also interacted with the patients and enquired whether they were getting proper treatment, among other things. Later, she visited the Rythu Seva Kendram and enquired about e-KYC, enrolment of crops with the kendram, extent of crop sown, availability of urea, and others with the staff there. She asked the staff to educate farmers about the ill-effects of excess usage of urea in cultivating crops. Ms. Rajakumari Ganiya inspected the Sri Venkata Sai fertilisers shop and went through the records to verify the fertilisers and DAP stocks. She asked the shop management to sell fertilisers at the price fixed by the government and warned of registering criminal cases, if the farmers were forced to buy fertilisers at a higher price.
Time of India
7 days ago
- Time of India
Schoolgirl collapses and dies during prayer session in Peth taluka
Nashik: A Class IX student of an ashramshala in Peth taluka died after collapsing during the school's prayer session at 8am on Saturday. The Peth police registered a case of accidental death and are investigating. Inspector Dwarkanath Gondke said, "The viscera of the deceased girl has been preserved for further examination to ascertain the exact cause of death. " Poliuce said the girl, Maya Bhoye, came to the school with other girls from Tetmala village in Dindori taluka, having walked a distance of approximately 1km. During the school prayer session, Maya collapsed and was immediately taken to the primary health centre (PHC) in Nanashi, where she was declared dead on arrival. Maya, whose father is a farmer, is survived by her parents and three siblings. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Friendship Day wishes , messages and quotes !
