The mother of an Egyptian-British activist jailed in Cairo who has been on hunger strike for 150 days risks “sudden death”, her doctor said Wednesday.

Laila Soueif, 68, remained in hospital having been admitted late Monday due to “dangerously new lows” in her blood sugar and sodium levels, as well as her blood pressure.

Her doctor at London’s St Thomas’s Hospital described Soueif’s condition in a letter as “extremely serious,” adding he had “explained the gravity of her condition.

“There is now immediate risk to life including further deterioration or death,” he wrote, adding “she is in particular at high risk of sudden death with continued fasting”.

Soueif has lived on only coffee, tea and rehydration sachets since September 29, 2024, the date that marked five years in detention for her son Alaa Abdel Fattah.

Fattah, 43, a pro-democracy and rights campaigner, was arrested by Egyptian authorities in September 2019 and later given a five-year sentence for “spreading false news”.

His family criticised his trial as a “farce” and has demanded he be released having completed his sentence.

Soueif has lost almost 30 kilograms (66 pounds), since starting her hunger strike which she has vowed to continue until her son is released.

For weeks, Soueif braved London’s bitter cold to demonstrate outside Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Downing Street office each working day since the date her son should have been released.

She suspended the protests last week after meeting with Starmer, who pledged support for efforts to secure Fattah’s release.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy travelled to Cairo last month to pressure officials to release Fattah, who was a key figure in the 2011 revolt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

He was given British citizenship in 2022 through his UK-born mother.