Day: August 18, 2026

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office recently funded a technological upgrade of all nine grand jury rooms in Supreme Court at 320 Jay St.

The post Brooklyn Supreme Court grand jury rooms get major technology upgrades appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office recently funded a technological upgrade of all nine grand jury rooms in Supreme Court at 320 Jay St.

The post Brooklyn Supreme Court grand jury rooms get major technology upgrades appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office recently funded a technological upgrade of all nine grand jury rooms in Supreme Court at 320 Jay St.

The post Brooklyn Supreme Court grand jury rooms get major technology upgrades appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

Menopause is no longer something women are expected to simply suffer through in silence. As more people speak openly about the physical and emotional changes that come with midlife, Brooklyn Paper spoke with Sarah Zuercher, director of OB/GYN Clinical Programs and a Menopause Society-certified provider at Maimonides’ Menopause Center, and Dr. Emilyn Brodsky, a pelvic floor physical therapist at Maimonides, about what patients should know about perimenopause, menopause and life after menopause.

For the roughly 1.3 million women and people assigned female at birth, or AFAB, who experience perimenopause and menopause in the U.S. each year, the transition can begin long before the final menstrual period.

The midlife hormonal transition occurs in three stages. The first is perimenopause, the phase leading up to the final menstrual period. It typically begins in women and AFAB people in their 40s but can start as early as the mid-30s or as late as the early 50s, lasting anywhere from a few years to a decade. Menopause occurs when a person has gone without a period for 12 consecutive months, marking the end of the reproductive years. The average age at which women and AFAB people in the U.S. enter menopause is around 52.

During those years, estrogen and progesterone levels begin to decline, leading to irregular periods that may be heavier or lighter than usual. Both hormone levels can fluctuate significantly, triggering symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats, brain fog, ADHD, depression, insomnia, anxiety, urinary urgency, weight gain, hair loss or thinning, joint and muscle aches, low libido and genitourinary syndrome of menopause.

According to a study by The Menopause Society, more than half of women, or 59% to 65%, experience hot flashes as well as psychological or urogenital symptoms that can impair daily functioning, diminish quality of life and reduce work productivity.

The third stage is postmenopause, marking the period after menopause has officially begun. For some women, menopause symptoms may ease or disappear, while for others, they continue. Women are also at higher risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease due to lower estrogen levels.

Although menopause has become a popular topic on social media, a Journal of Women’s Health survey found that 37% of respondents reported feeling shame about their menopause-related symptoms, while 82% felt stigma associated with menopause.

Zuercher noted that symptoms of menopause have historically been dismissed or underrecognized because the medical establishment has focused primarily on the reproductive years. However, that is beginning to change, she said, as a new generation of women speaks up about the “change of life.”

“I think women of the current generation that are now going through menopause, to me anyway, seem to feel a lot more empowered to speak out and demand that their symptoms are recognized and treated,” Zuercher said.

While social media ads and posts about perimenopause often hype the benefits of hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, and testosterone, Zuercher pointed out that FDA-approved HRT is primarily used to treat hot flashes, night sweats and genitourinary syndrome of menopause, while also helping protect bone density.

“The idea that there’s this one treatment, like hormone therapy, that’s the silver bullet for all of these symptoms is so tempting, and I would love to be able to say to patients, “I have just what you need, and you’re going to feel great,” but it’s really not that simple,” Zuercher said. “There’s a lot of misinformation, and then a lot of what I do is kind of sifting through with patients, like what their symptoms are, what could be causing their symptoms, because often there are multiple drivers of symptoms, and how do we work on making them better.”

Maimonides’ comprehensive menopause program offers a holistic, integrated approach that goes beyond traditional medical care, providing mental health counseling, lifestyle guidance, symptom management and preventive women’s health services. Some symptoms may be related to menopause but may also indicate another health problem. For example, women who report serious brain fog may be referred to the Women’s Neuro Center to rule out more serious conditions, such as dementia.

“Our model is so important. As a nurse practitioner, I evaluate my patients’ symptoms and determine which medical treatments may help. Frequently, it’s important to bring in the Women’s Neuro Center, our sleep specialist, Endocrinology, our women’s cardiology program, because we’re complicated. To get good care at midlife, you really do need a comprehensive team of experts and providers,” Zuercher explained.

She noted that women should also consider lifestyle changes, such as incorporating weight training to maintain muscle mass and cardio exercise, both of which can help manage weight, lower stress and improve sleep. Meditation and adopting the Mediterranean diet may also help improve mood, metabolism and daily functioning.

“There’s a lot of research on the Mediterranean diet,” Zuercher explained. “Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, limiting red meat, limiting ultra-processed foods and sugar. Traditional diets can be fantastic too, but that’s where the evidence is strongest.”

Zuercher recommends basic lab tests for her patients, including thyroid, cholesterol and ferritin levels, as well as a bone mineral density scan for postmenopausal women.

“It’s always important to keep in mind that some symptoms may be related to menopause, but some symptoms can be related to other things like thyroid issues. And so, if we’re giving you hormone therapy because of a symptom, but your thyroid is in the gutter, then it’s not going to work very well,” Zuercher said.

One of the most underdiagnosed and undertreated conditions is genitourinary syndrome of menopause, or GSM, a collection of vaginal, vulvar, sexual and urinary symptoms that can occur when estrogen levels decline during and after menopause. The drop in estrogen causes the tissues of the vagina, vulva, urethra and bladder to become thinner, drier, less elastic and more fragile, leading to a range of uncomfortable or disruptive symptoms, including vaginal dryness, burning, itching, irritation, thinning of the tissues or discharge; urinary leakage or urgency and recurrent urinary tract infections; and pain during intercourse.

GSM is still an area that carries a great deal of stigma, Zuercher pointed out, as patients may be too embarrassed to talk about it openly, even though it affects more than half of menopausal women and can worsen during perimenopause.

Pelvic floor physical therapy can help with bladder control and sexual health, Brodsky told Brooklyn Paper.

After an initial evaluation, Brodsky develops a customized treatment plan for patients that includes education on pelvic floor anatomy and function, strengthening or relaxation exercises, breathing and core coordination, and bladder habit training.

“I love this job because I get to work so closely with practitioners; it’s helpful to be able to say, ‘Oh, they’d really benefit from topical estrogen,’ for instance. Being able to work so closely with the medical side of things so that patients can get better holistically has been wonderful,” Brodsky said. “One of the reasons I think that the public floor center here is amazing is because there is this interdisciplinary care that allows people to get the information they need and then the medication they need as well.”

Besides pelvic floor physical therapy, women may also benefit from vaginal estrogen cream, which can help restore vaginal lining thickness and elasticity, support a healthy vaginal microbiome and pH balance, enhance intimacy and reduce the risk of urinary tract infections.

The lack of estrogen in vaginal tissue can lead to chronic UTIs, which can put patients at risk for sepsis. Brodsky said vaginal estrogen can also significantly reduce the risk of serious complications associated with recurrent UTIs in older women.

“What I want is for that tissue to be happy,” Brodsky said, comparing the application to keeping dry hands moisturized during the winter. “We always have to like give that kind of nutrition to the tissue, so that it can get stronger, so that it can relax better, so that it can remain plump. Because when the tissue gets a little thinner, we have other side effects like prolapse.”