The madness of the midterm elections is upon us, and many of us are struggling.  We’re doom-scrolling and compulsively refreshing polling data. We’re losing sleep.

As someone who has hosted a wellness podcast for more than a decade, I’ve been thinking about how to manage this stress — for myself and others. Here are five common misconceptions about how to stay sane in insane times, as well as some workarounds. Please take what works for you and leave the rest.

Misconception No. 1: Self-care is self-indulgent

If you are someone who worries that taking time for yourself is selfish, please know that it’s actually a public service. It can equip you to better respond to a world on fire.

Happiness expert Gretchen Rubin has some advice I love: “Treat yourself like a toddler.” In other words, make sure you eat well and get enough sleep. Engage in the practices that work for you — meditation, exercise, socializing — and do it guilt-free. Not only do you deserve rest, but self-care is also good citizenship.

Here is a super-quick practice that helps to regulate my nervous system year-round: Take three deep breaths. It sounds deceptively simple but can be quite powerful. I especially like “straw breathing”: Deep inhale through the nose, then slow exhale through pursed lips, as if you’re blowing through a straw. For me, the relief is immediate. Repeat as often as necessary.

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Election anxiety? Deepak Chopra’s tips for managing election stress October 24, 2024 / 04:31

Misconception No. 2: ‘Acceptance’ means complacency

“Acceptance” can be a tricky term.  It means acknowledging what is happening — in the world and in your own mind — as a first step toward taking action. It’s hard to fix a problem if you aren’t seeing it clearly. So instead of wasting energy being at war with reality, accept it, then act.

Another practice that might help comes from the eminent meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein. Next time you’re in the throes of anger, anxiety or another difficult emotion, drop these words into your mind: “It’s OK.” This doesn’t mean that everything is OK. Instead, it means that it’s OK to feel whatever you’re feeling right then. When confronted with difficult emotions, many of us reflexively self-medicate (with, say, alcohol or shopping). The radical move is to feel your feelings, notice that they come and go, and make a sane choice on the other side.

Misconception No. 3: ‘Surrender’ means resignation

“Surrender” is another term that can be tricky. If acceptance is seeing things clearly, then surrender is recognizing what is in your control and what is not. It’s easy to hear surrender as a synonym for resignation or passivity, but it’s simply a way to conserve your energy for the areas where impact is genuinely possible.

Different traditions have ways of describing this. In Stoicism, they talk about “controlling the controllables.” In Buddhism, it’s “non-attachment to results.” AA has its serenity prayer. The core idea is that you can work hard on issues that matter to you while also recognizing that, in the end, the results are largely out of your control.

Practice: Next time you notice yourself in an anxiety spiral, use it as a moment to inquire. Is there a useful action I can take right now? If not, maybe just drop this word into your mind: “Surrender.” This move has saved me a lot of unnecessary suffering.

Misconception No. 4: I need my anger in order to stay in the fight

Given  the corruption, the Iran war, the ballroom — it’s perfectly understandable that many of us find Trump 2.0 infuriating. Further, anger has its uses. It can help you identify problems and can be motivating. In my experience, however, when I am operating on uncut outrage, I inevitably burn myself out.

Try this: In moments of anger or anxiety, see if you can tune into what’s beneath these emotions. When you dig, you will likely find caring. Or, to use a less comfortable term, love. Love for your country, for your family, for yourself. For me, love is the cleaner burning fuel. Let it propel you forward.

Misconception No. 5: To stay informed, I need to compulsively check the news

No question, the stakes are high in these midterms. But does this mean you need to doomscroll in every free moment? In my opinion, no.

So how do you draw the line between staying informed and driving yourself crazy? It’s both highly individual and also more art than science. I recommend doing some personal exploration. How much news can your nervous system metabolize before you start to glitch? If you go for more than two straight hours, do you find yourself typing in all-caps on Bluesky? My friend Sebene Selassie, a meditation teacher, has a policy of “no news before noon.” (Sorry, Joe and Mika!) My own policy is to not look at my phone for the first and last hours of the day.

A practice: Savor the good stuff. The people who design social media algorithms benefit from keeping us in a perpetual state of fear and outrage because those emotions keep us scrolling. If you put your phone down and step outside, you’ll see tons of good stuff. People raising children, volunteering and engaging in small acts of decency. Tuning into this doesn’t negate the world’s problems, but it does put them in a larger frame. Personally,  I like to take a warm shower and make a list of all the things that I am grateful for from the day. I find it retrains my mind to scan for the positive.

If you’re looking for constructive ways to consume news, I recommend the MS NOW membership app. It provides both news and tools to regulate your nervous system, so that you can then take the appropriate action. To me, that is a solid recipe for citizenship: Information, regulation, activation. Remember: The world is insane, but you don’t have to be.

The post The midterms are stressing us all. Here are five ways to calm down. appeared first on MS NOW.

Some experts express concern about ‘lack of transparency’ as agency removes warnings on three estrogen patches

Three more patches for treating menopause will no longer carry black-box warnings about cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and dementia, officials at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Friday.

The FDA did not convene an advisory committee and offered few details on the scientific basis for the decision in the press briefing. The news follows the removal of black-box warnings from six menopause treatments in February, as patients across the US struggle with shortages of the patches.

The decision follows earlier revisions in February, when the FDA authorized the removal of warnings regarding breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and probable dementia

The decision follows earlier revisions in February, when the FDA authorized the removal of warnings regarding breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and probable dementia

The decision follows earlier revisions in February, when the FDA authorized the removal of warnings regarding breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and probable dementia

Three Chili's customers suffered chemical burns after consuming margaritas that mistakenly had a cleaning product in them on Wednesday at the restaurant in Forest City, North Carolina. 

The post VIDEO — North Carolina: Three Customers Suffer Chemical Burns from Contaminated Chili’s Margaritas appeared first on Breitbart.

• Warren Buffett once told Bill Ackman over dinner that he hadn't had a glass of water for five decades.
• Ackman recounted the story on a podcast this week discussing his relationship with the investing legend.
• Buffett, 96, famously drinks five cans of Coke a day and lives on fast food and sweet treats.

Warren Buffett hasn't had a glass of water since at least the 1970s.

That's what the 96-year-old business icon once told Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager recalled during an episode of the Equity Mates Investing podcast that aired this week.

Ackman said that Buffett came over for dinner at his home "years ago," and he'd made sure to stock up on the legendary investor's favorite drink, Cherry Coke.

The Pershing Square founder and CEO said that once they were sitting at the table, he asked Buffett whether he'd like still or sparkling water. Buffett politely declined, opting for his preferred soda instead.

"But I said, you know, 'Don't you drink water?'" Ackman recalled. "And he said, 'Bill, I haven't had water in 48 years.'"

Ackman didn't immediately respond to a request for more detail about Buffett's hydration habits.

Not drinking water might sound unbelievable, but Buffett — who retired as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO after 60 years in charge last December, and as the company's chairman this September — is famous for drinking five cans of Coke daily.

He quipped in 2015 that he was "one-quarter Coca-Cola," as it accounted for 25% of his daily calories.

Buffett's love of soda goes back decades. During Berkshire's 1986 meeting, he declared that after "48 years of allegiance" to Pepsi, he was switching to Cherry Coke, saying it would be the meeting's official drink going forward.

Coca-Cola has also been one of Buffett's landmark investments. Berkshire hasn't touched its roughly 9% stake in the beverage giant since it finished building it in the mid-1990s. The position cost about $1.3 billion and was worth around $28 billion at the end of December — a roughly 21-fold gain.

Coke is only part of Buffett's iconic diet. He's known for grabbing McDonald's for breakfast on his drive to work, and munching on hot dogs, fries, popcorn, cookies, candy, ice cream, and other comfort foods.

His love of fast food and sweet treats extends to his investments. Berkshire counts See's Candies and Dairy Queen among its subsidiaries, and Kraft Heinz among its largest stock holdings.

Buffett's childlike tastes have led to issues in the past, including a disastrous sushi dinner in Tokyo.

Bill Gates and his then-wife, Melinda, went to great lengths to ensure the investor didn't starve when he joined them on a 17-day trip to China in 1995.

They organized for their hotel's chefs to be taught how to prepare hamburgers and fries, and when they climbed the Great Wall, they made sure to have Cherry Coke waiting for Buffett at the top.

Three children are in intensive care with E. coli infections as health officials investigate a possible link to a California pumpkin patch that closed just days before Halloween.

Five cases of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infection have been confirmed, potentially originating from Brookshire Farms in San Luis Obispo, according to an Oct. 27 advisory issued by the County of San Luis Obispo Public Health Department.

The suspected exposure period is Oct. 16 through Oct 26.

FDA WIDENS CYCLOSPORA OUTBREAK INVESTIGATION TO SIX MORE STATES AS CONFIRMED CASES TOP 6,000

Health officials advise that anyone who visited the pumpkin patch between those dates should monitor for gastrointestinal symptoms.

"We are working diligently to identify the source of these infections to protect the health of our community," said County Health Officer Dr. Christy Mulkerin in the news release.

"We encourage anyone who may have been exposed and is experiencing symptoms consistent with E. coli infection to seek immediate medical attention."

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Typical symptoms of E. coli include cramping, severe abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea and signs of dehydration, which usually begin within three to 10 days of exposure.

Young children under 10 are typically at the highest risk for complications, which can include hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious condition that damages blood cells and can lead to kidney failure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Tyler Evans, an infectious disease physician and founder of Wellness Equity Alliance in California, warned that diarrhea can lead to dehydration and fatigue.

"The diarrhea is really the key component here, and the stomach cramps," he told Fox News Digital.

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Evans said younger children and older adults can be particularly vulnerable, emphasizing the need to closely watch children younger than 5.

Speaking generally about potential exposure routes in pumpkin patches, Evans said E. coli can spread when bacteria from feces reach someone’s mouth.

He pointed to potentially contaminated food or water, animal contact and person-to-person transmission as possible transmission routes.

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Evans also noted that not all E. coli bacteria cause illness. The confirmed cases in this investigation involve Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.

"One of the most effective ways that we can prevent this is washing your hands," the doctor added.

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The farm has voluntarily closed as a precaution while investigators work to identify the source of the infections, determine whether the cases are connected and assess whether others may be at risk, according to the county health department.

Brookshire Farms told Fox News Digital it was reserving comment pending test results from the county health department.

• Carol Colborn is a full-time carer to her husband, William, who has Alzheimer's disease.
• She struggled, especially after being diagnosed with cancer, and the pair was confined to the house.
• A Medicare benefit designed to help carers and keep their loved ones at home changed all that.

This story is based on an interview with Carol Colborn, 77, a retired academic from Mesa, Arizona. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My husband, William, and I married in 2008 when I was 60, and he was 65.

We both retired and went on an amazing adventure together: RV-ing full time across North America for eight years.

We drove to every state in the US, every state in Mexico, and every province in Canada. Then we traveled the world, visiting 29 countries in total.

The trips stopped after William was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2018, so we're glad we built so many happy memories on the road.

He'd shown symptoms of the illness, mostly forgetfulness. I gave him a shopping list of three items written in large print, and he'd come back with two.

We had a ritual: he'd bring me a mug of herbal tea while we watched TV in the evening. It made me calm and serene and helped me sleep better. He'd done it every day since our wedding and, when he forgot the first time, I was distraught.

William had mild cognitive impairment for the first four years, which progressed into moderately severe Alzheimer's.

He needed 24/7 support, and I was his full-time caregiver. He stayed in bed a lot of the time, but I gave him his medication, three meals a day, and baths.

I had chemotherapy for lung cancer

His mobility was limited, but we still did our evening walks past four houses. It was his main exercise.

Things were relatively manageable until July 2025, when I was diagnosed with lung cancer. I had surgery in September and was in the hospital for four days.

My daughter and William's daughter stepped up to care for him, but it was a temporary arrangement because they lived in other states.

I began chemotherapy and had to juggle my husband's health needs with my own. It was incredibly stressful.

"How can I take care of him while taking care of myself?" I asked myself. We considered assisted living, but we couldn't bear the thought of leaving our own home.

One of our biggest expenditures was transport. William gave up driving long ago, and I'd never driven. It meant we'd spend around $500 a month on Uber rides to get to things like his doctors' appointments and my cancer procedures.

We were paying between $30 and $40 a trip. It got to the point where we stayed home most of the time because we couldn't afford the cost.

It was exhausting trying to navigate the Medicare system

The walls closed in on us. We didn't go to mass or socialize with our friends. Things like date night at a restaurant were out of the question.

It was exhausting trying to navigate the Medicare system. It felt as if I was fighting for every benefit and getting nowhere. Every day was a challenge.

Earlier this year, I saw an ad on Facebook for Ez Health, a free or low-cost service that deals with Medicare on your behalf. It explained how federal legislation passed in January 2024, called Community Health Integration, aims to keep people who want to stay in their own homes as long as possible.

The program supports carers like me. We were appointed a health advocate, known as a guide, who helped me through the qualification process.

We suddenly got many of the benefits I'd been struggling for, including eight hours a week of respite care. We also had access to medical professionals who came to your home, such as a physical therapist, a palliative nurse, a dentist, and a phlebotomist.

Dining out again has strengthened our marriage

Our transport is subsidized. The guide introduced us to a local paratransit service that costs $3 per ride. It has saved us as much as $400 a month. Best of all, it's opened up our world.

We use it not only for grocery shopping and health appointments — I'm having maintenance therapy for my cancer now — but also for date nights. Dining out again is transformative and has strengthened our marriage.

These days, rather than William's caregiver, I refer to myself as his "present companion," as I steer him through his later years.

Over nine years, Zach Reitano has repeatedly evolved Ro as patient needs and the healthcare market have changed, from its early direct-to-patient services to a leading platform for GLP-1 care.

During Business Insider's The Long Play, Reitano discussed the business decisions behind those shifts and how the company is positioning itself for the next era of consumer health.

As part of his conversation with Business Insider legal correspondent Melia Robinson, he also shared what he's learned as a founder leading in an era of quick and unrelenting change.

On Thursday’s broadcast of MS NOW’s “The Weeknight,” Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) stated that people rolled off the Affordable Care Act “because they couldn’t afford it anymore” after the federal government stopped subsidies. Spanberger said, “We had over 100,000

The post Spanberger: People Left Affordable Care Act Because ‘They Couldn’t Afford It’ Without Subsidies appeared first on Breitbart.

Healthcare authorities in Ceuta have confirmed five known Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) cases among the thousands of illegal migrants that invaded the city in July, a report published on Friday states.

The post Report: Ceuta Confirms 5 HIV Cases Related to Mass Migrant Invasion appeared first on Breitbart.

• We don't offer our kids cash or toys for their Halloween candy.
• They get to eat as much as they want on Halloween and keep the rest after.
• I want them to learn how to listen to their bodies and develop a healthy relationship with sugar.

When Halloween rolls around every year, the Switch Witch or candy fairy posts start flooding my feed. But in our house, our three kids can eat as much candy as they want on Halloween night, and we don't offer to trade cash or toys for their haul. In fact, we let them keep their candy until long after Halloween has passed.

I'm not anti-rules, I'm pro-experience

I'm not saying sugar is harmless or that I want my kids to eat unlimited amounts of candy every day, but I understand the value of special occasions, and I want them to do the same. I also know that just telling kids something isn't good for them and not letting them have the firsthand experience often backfires. (Or maybe that's just my kids?) And I have to admit the first time I watched my oldest kid work her way through a pile of wrappers, I wondered if I'd made a huge mistake.

But it wasn't a mistake. It's allowed us to frame sugar within our eating habits to help our kids understand what a well-balanced diet means, rather than focusing only on its downsides. We talk about the place of protein, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and treats in our lives. Ultimately, I'd rather help my kids build their own internal "enough" meter while they are young than have me control it now and send them into adulthood lacking the skill. This is one opportunity to do that.

Our Halloween rules are simple

Our house generally operates on a "two sugars per day" rule: as long as they eat a good balance of foods, our kids can choose two things they'd like that contain sugar throughout the day. This might be a family trip to an ice cream shop or a lollipop from a doctor's office. But on Halloween, the only rule is that they have to eat a decent dinner before trick-or-treating. Then they can eat as much candy as they'd like.

The second rule around Halloween is that anything not eaten by the following summer is thrown away. And you'd be surprised at how much candy we throw away. Because candy isn't forbidden fruit in our house, our kids don't hoard it and are fairly mindful about eating what they truly enjoy. This means they're generally open to giving away candies they don't like to siblings or parents (my collection of Almond Joys each October 31st brings me great, well, joy), and they also preemptively throw away things no one likes.

They are learning an important lesson about their bodies

Each of our kids has learned what too much sugar feels like, from crashes to more unfortunate situations. There was the unforgettable Saturday afternoon our then-6-year-old treated us to bright blue throw-up, courtesy of too many Toxic Waste candies. And the night our then-10-year-old woke up again and again with a stomachache.

But none of them have had a negative experience twice (so far). They are growing more attuned to their bodies and what makes them feel unwell before they hit the tipping point. To me, this is a sign that they are forming healthy relationships with sugar, and eating in general. It's ever-evolving, of course, but I didn't grow up learning this skill, so it's one I want to give them.

And for me, it goes beyond food. I hope they'll understand and listen to their bodies in other situations as they grow, from going to parties in college to pushing themselves physically in exercise or sports. Our bodies are really cool, complex machines that give us a lot of signals if we know how to tune in. An overindulgent night of candy on Halloween seems like a pretty low-risk way to help them calibrate their "enough" meter.

Older adults diagnosed with autism face a significantly higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease-related movement disorders compared to the general population, according to a large new study published in the journal Autism.

Researchers analyzed Medicare and Medicaid claims data covering nearly 57 million Americans aged 45 and older between 2017 and 2019.

Individuals on the spectrum, as well as those with intellectual disabilities, were diagnosed with parkinsonism at much higher rates than those without autism.

HOW EATING HABITS COULD INFLUENCE PARKINSON’S DISEASE RISK, ACCORDING TO EXPERTS

Parkinsonism refers to a range of neurological conditions characterized by certain movement symptoms, including tremors, muscle rigidity, balance difficulties and slowed voluntary movement, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation.

While earlier research suggested an overlap between autism and motor decline later in life, it was unclear whether those problems stemmed from the condition or from antipsychotic medications, which are widely known to trigger Parkinson’s-like symptoms as a secondary side effect.

To determine whether medications explained the link, researchers excluded people who took antipsychotics from the analysis. They still found higher rates of Parkinson’s-related diagnoses in neurodivergent populations.

In the general population control group, the prevalence of parkinsonism was roughly 1.57%. The prevalence rose to 3.83% among adults with autism alone, 4.32% for those with an intellectual disability alone, and 4.86% among individuals diagnosed with both autism and an intellectual disability.

PARKINSON’S PATIENT’S YEARS-LONG TREMOR VANISHES WITHIN MINUTES OF NEW ULTRASOUND TREATMENT

"A critically important new contribution of this study is increased incidence rates of parkinsonism for autistic people in middle and older adulthood, which suggests that these cases aren’t simply a byproduct of lifelong motor challenges," Greg Wallace, lead author and a professor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., said in a press release.

The study represents the first time scientists have tracked the incidence rate, or the risk of newly emerging cases over time, among older autistic individuals.

"It is therefore important for clinicians to establish clear baselines of motor skills and challenges during adulthood that can be tracked over time," Wallace added.

Dr. Lee Murray, a neurologist based in Jackson, Tennessee, said this study clarifies previous research that suggested patients with autism are at a higher risk of having Parkinson's.

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"This study takes into account the use of antipsychotic medications that can cause a Parkinson's look (resting tremor, stiffness, shuffled gait, stooped posture, softened voice), which is a different pathology than stereotypical or idiopathic Parkinson's disease," Murray, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.

"This study showed patients with autism that was associated with intellectual disability seem to have the greatest association with concomitant Parkinson's."

The neurologist cautioned that autism encompasses a wide range of symptoms and severity, so the findings don't mean that people with milder cases face a significantly higher risk of Parkinson’s disease.

"It certainly is an interesting correlation, although it does not imply that someone with autism is certain to develop Parkinson's," Murray added.

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"From a clinical perspective, it's helpful to review medications with the autistic patient's physicians and, if possible, try to avoid medications that may cause a Parkinson's appearance."

Despite the scope of the data, the authors noted several key limitations of using insurance records.

The investigation relied on billing and diagnostic codes submitted through Medicare and Medicaid, which can contain errors or reflect differences in how clinics and medical providers diagnose conditions.

The reliance on claims data also means researchers could not assess the severity of individual motor symptoms or examine the role of lifestyle factors, genetics and family history, they noted.

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Additionally, the data only captured adults who were enrolled in public insurance programs, potentially leaving out older individuals who rely strictly on private health insurance.

Because people on the autism spectrum may already struggle with coordination, repetitive behaviors or executive functioning challenges, experts say early indicators of Parkinson’s disease can be missed or mistaken, potentially delaying essential care.

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"Patients with autism can have atypical movements that can be misdiagnosed as Parkinson's if the examiner is not accustomed to diagnosing it," Murray confirmed.

The researchers emphasized the need for physicians, long-term care facilities and family caregivers to closely monitor older autistic patients for motor decline so interventions can begin as early as possible.