{"id":206763,"date":"2025-12-23T12:09:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T12:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/206763\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T12:09:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T12:09:08","slug":"what-happens-to-your-body-when-you-go-on-a-hunger-strike-news-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/206763\/","title":{"rendered":"What happens to your body when you go on a hunger strike? | News UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In 1981, ten Irish republicans starved themselves to death in Northern Ireland<\/a>, demanding to be recognised as political prisoners.<\/p>\n

Their leader, Bobby Sands, survived 66 days without food before he died and has become one of the most famous hunger strikers in history.<\/p>\n

More than four decades later, a group of prisoners on hunger strike are making headlines again. They have been held on remand over protests for Palestine<\/a> Action for over a year without trial.<\/p>\n

Four of them are still refusing to eat<\/a>, while a fifth, Qesser Zuhrah, was last night reported to have ended her strike<\/a> after 48 days. She had been hospitalised<\/a> during her strike a HMP Bronzefield.<\/p>\n

Two of the strikers have now gone 50 days or more with no food, and fears are growing of a tragic outcome. The sister of Kamran Ahmed told Metro this week how she dreads she will \u2018have to do an obituary\u2019<\/a> for her brother.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tSign up for all of the latest stories\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates<\/a> newsletter or get Breaking News<\/a> alerts the moment it happens. <\/p>\n

What actually happens to the body during a hunger strike?<\/p>\n

James Smith, an A&E doctor and epidemiologist with UCL, who has been supporting those on strike, told Metro that the prisoners are now in a critical and unpredictable period for their health.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"TOPSHOT
\n\t\tSupporters of the hunger-striking prisoners, left to right: MP Jeremy Corbyn, Qesser Zuhran\u2019s designated next of kin Ella Moulsdale, Kamran Ahmed\u2019s sister Shahmina Alam, solicitor Daniel Cooper and Prisoners for Palestine\u2019s Francesca Nadin attend a press conference in London on December 18, 2025 (Picture: AFP)<\/p>\n

He said:\u00a0\u2018The reality is that they are in a physiological state where the body is breaking itself down, and there is an unpredictability to this.\u00a0We know what the risks broadly are, but we don\u2019t know when exactly those risks will materialise and in what way.\u2019<\/p>\n

The body can \u2018very quickly\u2019 go into cardiac arrhythmias, or progressive heart failure, and heart-related issues are a particular concern at this stage, he said.<\/p>\n

The other major concern is deficiencies of essential micronutrients. The big one is thiamine, which is one of the vitamin Bs.<\/p>\n

\u2018Your body has quite a limited store, and you need thiamine in order to process energy,\u2019 he said. If people become deficient, it can cause damage to the brain and the nervous system, which may not be fully reversible.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019re in that territory now,\u2019 he warned. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tWhat can happen during a hunger strike?\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Ian Miller, a historian of hunger strikes in British prisons, told Metro that a hunger strike can typically play out physiologically as follows: <\/p>\n

Days One to Seven: decreasing heart rate, physical wasting, weight loss (as bodies eat up their fat reserves in the adipose tissue.<\/p>\n

Days Eight to Fourteen: Bodies begin using glycogen stores (energy located in the liver and muscles). Ammonia produced giving a distinctive smell. Weight loss slows down. Loss of heart mass causing a slow heart beat.<\/p>\n

Days Fifteen Onwards: Tendencies to collapse and become bedbound. Nightmares very common early on. Physical and psychological health<\/a> worsens significantly. Very disturbed sleep. \u2018Raving all night\u2019, as one hunger strike<\/a> termed it in the 1920s.<\/p>\n

Around twenty to sixty\/seventy days: Patients essentially in a state of complete exhaustion, but often still conscious until around 50 days.<\/p>\n

Over 70 days: With zero medical intervention or food, this seems to be roughly the limit of survival. In 1920, hunger striker Terence MacSwiney lasted 74 days before he died.<\/p>\n

Dr Smith said it is hard to know exactly how well or badly the hunger strikers are managing, as communication is limited even for their next of kin.<\/p>\n

He spoke to one of the protesters, Qesser Zuhrah, around 10pm last Tuesday, when she was past day 40 without food. She told him she had severe chest pains, something she had also told her family at 5pm that day.<\/p>\n

\u2018It wasn\u2019t until 1pm on Wednesday that the ambulance came to the prison,\u2019 he claimed, saying that the fact she remains in hospital now indicates the chest pain was a serious medical concern.<\/p>\n

He said all those still on hunger strike risked long-term damage to their health, even if they ultimately survived: \u2018You can do damage to the kidneys, the liver, the pancreas, the heart, and of course, to the entirety of the musculature, and there\u2019s no guarantee that all of those things are reversible\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\"LONDON,
\n\t\tSupporters of Palestine Action hunger strikers protest outside Pentonville prison on December 18, 2025 (Picture: Getty)
\n\u2018Something tragic could happen at any time\u2019<\/p>\n

It is now possible for something \u2018tragic\u2019 to happen at any time, he said, based on how other patients with acute malnutrition have progressed. <\/p>\n

\u2018In anorexia, for example, it\u2019s not necessarily the case that electrolytes slowly drop away: there can be very sudden and rapid changes that can be fatal. And most, if not, all of the hunger strikers now are in that phase.\u2019 <\/p>\n

Ian Miller, a historian of hunger strikes in British prisons, told Metro that in the past, hunger strikes were unlikely to be fatal because authorities were willing to force-feed prisoners, such as the Suffragettes.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s often seen as very degrading, torturous and painful, and a way to subjugate patients and to encourage them to get off the hunger strike,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tWho are the prisoners on hunger strike?\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The three Palestine Action prisoners below are accused of offences related to the raid of an Israeli arms manufacturer\u2019s research facility in Filton, Bristol, in August 2024:<\/p>\n

Heba Muraisi (HMP New Hall): Day 50<\/p>\n

Teuta Hoxha (HMP Peterborough): Day 45<\/p>\n

Kamran Ahmed (HMP Pentonville): Day 44<\/p>\n

The fourth hunger striker still not taking in any food is Amu Gib (HMP Bronzefield), now on Day 52 of the hunger strike. They are accused of breaking into RAF Brize Norton in June 2025 and \u2018decommissioning\u2019 military aircraft by spraying them with red paint, allegedly causing \u00a37 million in damage.<\/p>\n

Qesser Zuhrah (HMP Bronzefield), also on remand accused of being part of the Filton protest, ended her hunger strike on Day 48<\/p>\n

Umer Khalid (HMP Wormwood Scrubs) and Jon Cink (HMP Bronzefield), accused of being part of the Brize Norton break-in, ended their strikes on Day 13 and Day 41 respectively due to medical necessity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lewie Chiaramello (HMP Bristol), who is accused of being part of the RAF Brize Norton break-in, is performing a \u2018partial\u2019 strike on alternate days, because he has Type 1 diabetes and so any sustained period without food could be life-threatening. <\/p>\n

What are their demands?<\/p>\n

Among their demands are for all the prisoners accused with them to be immediately released on bail, for Palestine Action to be deproscribed as a terror organisation<\/a>, and for the UK government to end financial support for Israeli weapons manufacture Elbit Systems. <\/p>\n

By the 1980s, this was no longer favoured unless someone was severely mentally ill and irrational, and so ten prisoners jailed for involvement with the IRA or Irish National Liberation Army died.<\/p>\n

Dr David Ross, who was overseeing their care at the Maze Prison (Long Kesh), also went on to take his own life some five years later.<\/p>\n

The fate of some of those who survived the IRA hunger strikes show the longterm impact even years after starvation, Dr Miller added. <\/p>\n

Many suffered lifelong conditions, with some dying young with health problems: \u2018So you find sometimes, decades later, that the health has been impacted in a way you didn\u2019t quite contemplate at the time.\u2019<\/p>\n

Legal action against the government<\/p>\n

A legal firm representing the\u00a0hunger\u00a0strikers has said it submitted a pre-action letter on Monday against the Justice Secretary David Lammy<\/a>, outlining the group\u2019s intention to start legal action after activists were taken to hospital. <\/p>\n

The strikers say the Government<\/a> is abandoning its own policies in the prison safety policy framework.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> has previously said the \u2018rules and procedures; are being followed, after facing questions in the Commons about why his ministers had refused to meet with representatives of those striking.<\/p>\n

Prisons minister Lord Timpson has previously said the service is \u2018very experienced at dealing with\u00a0hunger\u00a0strikes, with an average of over 200 a year, and has \u2018robust and working\u2019 systems in place and the Prison Service \u2018will not be meeting\u2019 any prisoners or their representatives.<\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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