HEALTH NOTES: Work troubles over migraines with one in five sufferers facing disciplinary action

One third of migraine sufferers are treated poorly at work.

The Migraine Trust charity survey shows that one in five victims have faced disciplinary action after missing work due to the painful headache.

One-third of the 1,000 patients surveyed said they had to leave their jobs because of migraines.

Some six million Britons suffer from it, and Migraine Trust chief Rob Music said the survey results show workplaces are not well equipped to support them.

“It’s more important than ever to provide employees and employers with practical information about what migraines are and how to manage them at work,” he said.

Alert on sugar in children’s yoghurt

Small children consume a worrying amount of sugar through supposedly healthy yogurt and fruit juices, health officials warn.

The UK’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition says parents should ensure milk or water are the main drinks given to children aged one to five.

The committee’s research found that young children get an average of 20 percent of their sugar from foods such as yogurt and artificially sweetened fruit juices.

The scientists also found that about three-quarters of British children aged 18 months to four years ate unhealthy amounts of salt while fiber intake was below the recommended amount.

A spokesman for the commission urged parents not to add salt to the food of young children.

Britain’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition says parents should ensure milk or water are the main drinks given to children aged one to five

Three-quarters of Britons say they have slept badly because they use their phone too much.

A survey also found that four in five have experienced eye pain after using their mobile and three-quarters say they have experienced neck pain.

But one in ten say they are addicted to smartphones, according to a poll of 1,000 people by British eye and ear health company Bayfields.

Young people appear to be the worst affected by the excessive use of smartphones.

About 90 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds admit to sleeping poorly as a result of using digital devices before going to bed.

Taking antibiotics regularly may have increased the risk of death from Covid-19.

Researchers at the University of Manchester who analyzed data from 98,000 virus victims hospitalized during the pandemic found that those who had taken frequent antibiotics over the past three years were a third more likely to die from Covid complications.

One possible explanation is that people with underlying illnesses that make them vulnerable to severe covid are also more likely to require antibiotics, perhaps due to a weak immune system.