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

A third of migraine sufferers are treated badly at work.

The Migraine Trust charity survey shows one in five victims has faced disciplinary action after missing work with the painful headaches.

A third of the 1,000 sufferers polled said they have had to leave a job because of migraines.

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

‘It’s more important than ever to empower employees and employers with practical information on what migraine is and how to manage it at work,’ he said.

Alert over sugar in kids’ yoghurts

Small children are consuming worryingly high levels of sugar through supposedly healthy yogurts and fruit juices, health officials have warned.

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

The committee’s survey found that, on average, young children are getting 20 per cent of their sugar from food such as yogurts and artificially sweetened fruit juice drinks.

The scientists also concluded that around three-quarters of British children aged 18 months to four were eating unhealthy amounts of salt while fibre intake was below the suggested amount.

A committee spokesman urged parents not to add any salt to young children’s food.

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

Three-quarters of Britons say they have suffered poor sleep because they use their phones too much.

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

But one in ten say they are addicted to smartphones, the poll of 1,000 people by UK eye and ear health firm Bayfields reveals.

Young people are revealed to be the worst affected by smartphone overuse.

Around 90 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds confess that they sleep poorly as a result of using digital devices before going to bed.

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

Manchester University researchers who analysed data from 98,000 virus victims admitted to hospital in the pandemic found those who had frequently taken antibiotics in the previous three years were a third more likely to die of Covid complications.

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