(Minghui.org) Guangdong Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Yang Fengtao is experiencing markedly elevated blood pressure while in detention. High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is often labeled “the silent killer.” But, her family's request for medical parole was denied.

Ms. Yang was in good health before her arrest, but showed symptoms of high blood pressure shortly after she was detained.

She was taken to a hospital for a check-up on December 29, 2015. The doctor said that her life was in danger.

During a meeting with her defense attorney on January 6, 2016, she said that she had fainted multiple times while in police custody.

Ms. Yang, from Puning City, was arrested on November 13, 2015 for producing informational materials about the persecution of Falun Gong. She was taken to the Puning Detention Center on the evening of her arrest. The authorities approved her arrest on December 11, 2015.

Her landlord, Ms. Du Yaoyin, also a Falun Gong practitioner, went to the police station and asked for Ms. Yang's release. Ms. Du was arrested at that point, as well. Her family hired well-known human rights lawyer Mr. Zhang Zanning to help her, and she was released on December 11, 2015.