The Importance of Stretching

Posted on September 4, 2026 by Patrick Hercules

Stretching is an essential part of exercise or any physical activity you are engaging in. It has several benefits, as it helps prevent falls and injuries by warming up muscles, joints, and connective tissues.

Stretching before and after exercising can help you improve:

· Flexibility

· Balance

· Speed

· Jump height

· Strength

· Endurance

· Range of motion

There are two types of stretching: static and dynamic stretching. Static stretching is when you hold a pose, like touching your toes in a hamstring stretch without moving. This helps your muscles relax and slowly get longer. It is recommended to use static stretching as a part of your cool-down after exercise.

Dynamic stretching is when you move a body part slowly and control it through its full range of motion, like doing arm circles or high knees. These stretches are best done before a workout or between sets of exercises.

Static and dynamic stretches can be:

Active: When you use your muscles to move or hold the stretch, such as when you lift your toes in the air because it stretches your calf muscles

Passive: When you rely on assisted stretching from another person, your hand, or a prop, such as using a doorframe to stretch your chest and shoulders

Stretching works best when you have the time and availability to not rush through it. If you are creating a stretching routine, it is recommended to start with a few different stretches for a total of 10 to 15 minutes. Furthermore, it is most important to focus on body areas critical for mobility, such as your calves, hamstrings, hip flexors in the pelvis, and quadriceps in the front of the thigh. It is also beneficial to stretch your shoulders, neck, and lower back.

For a 10-minute stretching routine, you can start with some basic upper- and lower- body stretching exercises, such as:

· Dynamic shoulder rolls

· Active neck stretch

· Static shoulder stretch

· Static triceps stretch

· Dynamic hip circles

· Static quadriceps stretch, standing up

· Static hamstring stretch, lying down

· Dynamic ankle circles

· Static calf stretch

Daily stretching may seem overwhelming. However, when you begin to stretch daily, it is important to take your time and not rush through it to avoid injury. Stretching is a simple way to prepare your muscles and joints for any workout and is an effective way to maximize active recovery days.

It is recommended that you consult your doctor before starting or adding new exercises to your routine. You can schedule an appointment with a doctor at Flushing Hospital’s Ambulatory Care Center by calling (718) 670-5486.

All content of this newsletter is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult a medical professional before adopting any of the suggestions on this page. You must never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment based upon any content of this newsletter. PROMPTLY CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN OR CALL 911 IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.

World Alzheimer’s Month

Posted on September 3, 2026 by Patrick Hercules

September is World Alzheimer’s Month, a month that raises global awareness of Alzheimer’s disease and encourages education, advocacy, and support for those affected.

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disease and the most common type of dementia. It causes a slow decline in memory, thinking, and reasoning skills. Age is the biggest risk factor for the disease, followed by sex and family history.

Dementia is not a specific disease, but an overall term that describes a group of symptoms like memory loss and the loss of other mental abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life, caused by physical changes in the brain.

Alzheimer’s disease and dementia can present many signs and symptoms, including:

Memory loss that disrupts daily life

Challenges in planning or solving problems

Difficulty completing familiar tasks

Confusion with time and place

Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships

New problems with words in speaking or writing

Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps

Decreased or poor judgment

Withdrawal from work or social activities

Changes in mood and personality

Even though there isn’t a cure for Alzheimer’s disease and many other types of dementia, there are preventative measures you can take to take care of your brain, including:

Engaging in regular cardiovascular exercise that elevates your heart rate and increases blood flow to the brain and body

Eating a healthy, balanced diet lower in fat and higher in fruit and vegetables, such as the Mediterranean and Mediterranean-DASH diets

Getting quality sleep

Taking care of your mental health and managing stress

Stimulating your brain by engaging in challenging activities, such as playing a strategy game, learning a new language or how to play an instrument, or completing a jigsaw puzzle

Staying connected socially with family and friends

If you or a loved one is experiencing symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s, you can receive treatment from a neurologist at Flushing Hospital Medical Center’s Ambulatory Care Center. To schedule an appointment, please call (718)-670-5486.

How Heart Disease is Different in Women Than it is in Men

Posted on September 2, 2026 by Patrick Hercules

Heart disease can be deadly for anyone, as it is the most common cause of death for both women and men in the U.S.

Heart disease refers to several types of heart conditions. There are three types of heart disease:

Coronary artery disease is the most common heart disease, caused by a buildup of plaque in the walls of the arteries that supply blood to the heart and other parts of the body. After menopause, women are at a higher risk of coronary artery disease because of hormonal changes.

Arrhythmia is a condition in which the heart beats too slowly, too fast, or irregularly. A common example is atrial fibrillation.

Heart failure happens when the heart is too weak to pump enough blood to support other organs in the body. This condition is serious, but it doesn’t mean the heart has stopped beating.

While heart disease can occur in everyone, women face unique risks, largely due to differences in anatomy and hormones, such as estrogen. Estrogen protects the heart in the premenopausal years as it relaxes the arteries and promotes good cholesterol. This changes when a woman begins menopause and estrogen levels decline, increasing the chance of cardiovascular risk factors, such as high cholesterol and hypertension.

Other heart disease risk factors include:

Obesity

Smoking

Emotional stress and depression

Diabetes

Lack of physical activity

Pregnancy complications

Family history of early heart disease

Other health conditions, such as autoimmune diseases and inflammatory conditions

Over 60 million women (44%) in the United States are living with some form of heart disease, and it can affect them at any age. However, the prevalence of heart disease in women starts going up around the age of 65, which is about ten years later than men, presumably due to the lasting positive effects of estrogen.

Women are more likely to have other heart attack symptoms and have a higher chance of developing symptoms from heart failure. Although some women may not show any symptoms, others may experience:

Angina is usually felt as a dull or heavy chest discomfort or ache

Pain in the neck, jaw, or throat

Pain in the upper abdomen or back

These symptoms may happen when you are resting or active. Women may also have other symptoms, including:

Nausea

Vomiting

Tiredness that won’t go away or feels excessive

In some women, the first signs and symptoms of heart disease can be:

A heart attack, which occurs when blood flow to the heart muscle is reduced or blocked

Palpitations

Treatment for heart disease is similar for women and men, and can include medicines, angioplasty and stenting, or coronary artery bypass surgery.

However, there are differences in heart disease treatment for women and men, including:

Women are less likely to be treated with aspirin and statins to prevent future heart attacks than men are

Women are less likely to have coronary artery bypass surgery than men. This may be because women have less obstructive disease or smaller arteries with more small vessel disease

Cardiac rehabilitation can improve health and aid recovery from heart disease. However, women are less likely to be sent to cardiac rehabilitation than men are.

Living a healthy lifestyle can help reduce the risk of heart disease. Here are some ways to live a heart-healthy lifestyle:

Controlling blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol

Eating a healthy diet

Exercising and keeping a healthy weight

Managing stress

Getting quality sleep

Quitting smoking or stopping the use of tobacco products

Limiting alcohol consumption

If you are experiencing symptoms of heart disease, you can receive treatment at Flushing Hospital Medical Center’s Ambulatory Care Center. To schedule an appointment, please call (718) 670-5486. If there is an emergency, call 911 immediately.

Chronic Pain and Mental Health

Posted on August 31, 2026 by Xavia Malcolm

Chronic pain is persistent pain that lasts more than three months; in some instances, it can last for years. This type of pain can interfere with daily life, affecting not only your physical health but also your mental health.

Many different conditions can cause chronic pain, including multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, arthritis, spinal stenosis, chronic migraine, lupus, myofascial pain syndrome, Crohn’s disease and endometriosis.

Living with daily and constant pain can be emotionally stressful, and those living with chronic pain are at an increased risk of developing mental health problems, such as:

Depression
Anxiety
Suicidal thoughts
Adjustment disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Mental health conditions may also make chronic pain feel worse, as they can increase the brain’s sensitivity to pain and reduce a person’s ability to cope with symptoms.

Because chronic pain and mental health can be bidirectional- where pain can worsen mental health and mental health can worsen pain- the most effective treatment approach is treating both the pain and the mental health impact together.

Treatment may involve medications, cognitive behavioral therapy, mind-body techniques such as meditation, integrative health therapies such as acupuncture, and pain rehabilitation programs.

If you are experiencing chronic pain or the mental health challenges associated with it, please schedule an appointment at Flushing Hospital Medical Center by calling 718-670-5486.

Back to School Health and Wellness Tips

Posted on August 28, 2026 by Patrick Hercules

The new school year is around the corner, and parents and guardians are getting their children ready to go back to school. As they prepare for a new school year, it is essential to make sure they return to school healthy.

Here are some health and wellness tips to make sure your child is healthy before they go back to school:

Make sure your child is up to date on their vaccinations. Vaccinations are essential to protect children and others from various diseases.

Make sure your child gets their flu and COVID-19 shots. Every child six months or older should get their yearly flu shots, as flu season typically starts in the fall and peaks between December and February.

Make sure your child receives vision and hearing tests. Children should have their hearing and vision tested with their doctor from infancy through high school. Watch for signs of hearing or vision loss and talk to your child’s healthcare provider if you notice any changes.

Help your child make healthy food choices, even at school. Encourage them to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. When eating bread or pasta, choose 100% whole-grain products. Encourage them to choose water, not juice or soda.

Make sure to take care of your child’s mental health. Managing school stress, relationships, and friendships can be overwhelming. Encourage them to talk about their emotional health.

Make sure to limit your child’s screen time. Children under the age of two years old should have no screen time. Limit screen time to one to two hours a day for children two years old and over. Parents are encouraged to delay access to smartphones until they are at least 14 years old.

Be sure to monitor your child’s social media use. Social media use starting during childhood can play a significant role in the relationships and experiences that impact children’s and teens’ growth, development, and mental health. Parents are encouraged to set aside time to discuss social media use, including setting privacy limits on who can see and interact with them.

Make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep. Adequate sleep helps kids focus each day at school and is important for their health. Children between the ages of three and five should sleep 10 to 13 hours (including naps). Children six to 12 years of age should sleep nine to 12 hours a night. Teenagers 13 to 18 years of age should sleep eight to 10 hours a night.

These back-to-school health and wellness tips will help ensure your child returns to the classroom safely and healthy.

Transient Ischemic Attack

Posted on August 26, 2026 by Patrick Hercules

A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a short period of symptoms like a stroke, caused by a brief blockage of blood flow to the brain. A transient ischemic attack usually only lasts a few minutes and doesn’t cause long-term damage.

A transient ischemic attack may be a warning. About one in three people who have a TIA will eventually have a stroke, with about half occurring within a year.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the symptoms of a transient ischemic attack are like the symptoms of an early stroke and happen suddenly. Symptoms may include:

Weakness, numbness, or paralysis in the face, arm, or leg, typically on one side of the body

Slurred speech or trouble understanding others

Dizziness or loss of balance or coordination

Blindness in one or both eyes or double vision

A person can have more than one transient ischemic attack. Their symptoms may be similar or different depending on which area of the brain is involved.

Transient ischemic attacks occur when cholesterol-containing fatty deposits build up in an artery. These fatty deposits decrease the blood flow through an artery or lead to the development of a clot.

Some of the risk factors of a transient ischemic attack can’t be changed, but others can be controlled.

Risk factors that can’t be changed include:

Prior transient ischemic attack

Family history

Sickle cell disease

Risk factors you can control include:

Health conditions

High blood pressure

Cardiovascular disease

Carotid artery disease

High cholesterol

Diabetes

Peripheral artery disease (PAD)

Excess weight

COVID-19

High levels of homocysteine

Lifestyle choices

Physical inactivity

Poor nutrition

Cigarette smoking

Heavy drinking

Use of illicit drugs

Knowing your risk factors and living a healthy lifestyle are the best things you can do to prevent a transient ischemic attack. Living a healthy lifestyle includes:

Getting regular checkups

Exercising regularly

Maintaining a healthy weight

Quitting smoking

Controlling diabetes

Lowering cholesterol

Limiting alcohol intake

Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables

Avoiding illicit drug use

Diagnosing a TIA includes an immediate evaluation, which is essential. An evaluation may include:

Physical exams and tests

Carotid ultrasonography

CT or CTA scans

MRI or MRA scans

Echocardiography

Arteriography

A diagnosis helps your healthcare provider determine the best treatment for you. Treatment for a transient ischemic attack occurs once your healthcare provider determines its cause. The goal of treatment is to correct the issue and prevent a stroke. Treatments include:

Medicines, such as antiplatelet drugs and anticoagulants

Surgical procedures, such as an angioplasty

If you or a loved one is experiencing symptoms of a transient ischemic attack, you can receive treatment at Flushing Hospital Medical Center’s Emergency Department. To schedule an appointment, please call (718) 670-5486.

Employee Spotlight Shines on Jeanhee Kim, RN, MA, BSN, CCRN, CEN, CIC

Posted on August 26, 2026 by Andrew Rubin

This month, Flushing Hospital Medical Center is proud to shine its Employee Spotlight on Jeanhee Kim. Jeanhee began her career at the hospital over three years ago. At first, she was a critical care nurse in our Intensive Care Unit and now she works in our Emergency Department.

Jeanhee grew up in the Rockaway section of Queens and currently lives in Douglaston. She attended P.S. 183 in Rockaway Beach, Hewlett High School, Boston University for college, UCLA for graduate school and Adelphi University for Nursing School. Before she became a nurse, Jeanhee was a university level educator in South Korea. As much as she loved teaching, Jeanhee felt that she could contribute more to society. All her life, Jeanhee watched her mom serve the community as both a bedside nurse and a nurse leader. This influenced her to follow in her mother’s footsteps and pursue a career in nursing. Jeanhee feels that she is fortunate to have had two rewarding careers. First as an educator and now as a nurse.

In her free time, Jeanhee likes to read, listen to music, participate in outdoor sports and activities, and share good food with family and friends. She listens to many different genres of music and finds it a wonderful way to relax, feel energized, and to stimulate creativity. She enjoys many different types of food, especially Korean cuisine for its health benefits. Jeanhee shares her home with a rescue cat named Jerry. She likes to travel, especially to South Korea where she has family and many friends. Jeanhee enjoys an active lifestyle, her favorite sports being swimming, running, hiking, and tennis.

Jeanhee enjoys working at Flushing Hospital due to its diverse patients and staff, which adds cultural richness to the workplace. This diversity helps the staff provide more culturally competent care to patients and their families. Jeanhee values sharing her knowledge and skills to help her patients, friends, and family stay healthy. It is very important to her to continuously make progress in her own development, emotionally, professionally, and spiritually. She tells us that there is a Korean word, cho-sim which roughly translates to “beginner’s mind”. Koreans say “don’t lose your beginner’s mind” and this means a person should not lose the passion, or the pure attitude we had when we first started something. We are very fortunate to have Jeanhee as a member of the Flushing Hospital team and look forward to her continuing to remain with us for many years into the future.

Robot-Assisted Hysterectomy

Posted on August 21, 2026 by Patrick Hercules

A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure that removes the uterus. Depending on the reason for the surgery, a hysterectomy can involve removing surrounding organs and tissues, such as the fallopian tubes and ovaries.

Your healthcare provider will discuss the type of hysterectomy you need depending on your condition. This will determine if your fallopian tubes and/or ovaries will be removed.

The different types of hysterectomy surgeries include:

A total hysterectomy removes the uterus and cervix but leaves the ovaries. Since you still have ovaries, you won’t enter menopause immediately after surgery.

A supracervical hysterectomy removes just the upper part of the uterus while leaving the cervix. You can also have your fallopian tubes and ovaries removed at the same time. Since you still have a cervix, you will still need Pap smears.

A total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy removes the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. Since your ovaries are removed, menopause will start immediately if you haven’t already completed it.

A radical hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy removes the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes, ovaries, the upper portion of the vagina, and some surrounding tissue and lymph nodes. Healthcare providers use this procedure when cancer is involved. Since your ovaries are removed, you will enter menopause.

A healthcare provider may suggest alternative treatments before recommending a hysterectomy, depending on the reason for needing one. Sometimes, those treatments don’t help, or surgery is the only option to treat the condition.

Surgeons perform hysterectomies to treat the following:

Abnormal or heavy vaginal bleeding

Severe pelvic pain

Uterine fibroids and other noncancerous tumors

Severe endometriosis

Uterine prolapse that can lead to urinary incontinence or fecal incontinence

Cervical, ovarian, or uterine cancer

Conditions with the lining of your uterus, such as hyperplasia or adenomyosis

Serious complications of childbirth such as uterine rupture

Many people have a hysterectomy to prevent cancer. For people at high risk for certain types of cancer, removing the uterus and/or surrounding reproductive organs can reduce the chances of developing cancer.

Healthcare providers can use several different surgical approaches to perform a hysterectomy, including a robot-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy.

A robot-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy is like an abdominal laparoscopy; however, a surgeon performs the procedure with the help of a robotic machine.

A surgeon inserts a laparoscope through the abdominal incisions. They insert small, thin surgical tools through three to five other small incisions around your belly button. The surgeon controls robotic arms and instruments.

The recovery is similar to laparoscopic hysterectomy.

There are many potential advantages of robotic-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy, including:

Robot-assisted surgery provides the surgeon with 3D images of inside your abdomen and pelvis that create a clearer picture for them to reference as they operate

Under the surgeon’s direction, the robot can move more freely and with more versatility than a human hand

Minimal scarring

Less pain

Faster recovery times

Less risk of wound infection

Shorter hospital stays

Less blood loss

To learn more about our robotic surgical procedures or schedule an appointment, contact Flushing Hospital Medical Center at (718) 670-5000.

The Risk of Taking Compound GLP-1s

Posted on August 20, 2026 by Patrick Hercules

Over the past few years, GLP-1 medications, such as semaglutide and tirzepatide, have become a popular way to help people lose weight.

However, some patients and healthcare providers have turned to compounded versions of semaglutide and tirzepatide called compounded GLP-1 antagonists.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 or GLP-1 antagonists are a class of medications that mainly manage blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. In 2024, nearly one in three Americans taking a GLP-1 drug said they were getting it from a compounding pharmacy.

Compounded GLP-1 antagonists are custom-mixed weight loss medications made by certain pharmacies, not drug companies, and use the same active ingredients as the brand names, but they don’t have approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for safety or effectiveness, and some compounded GLP-1 drugs have additional ingredients or alternate chemical forms of the active drugs.

This is why the FDA has warned against taking compounded versions of semaglutide and tirzepatide, as they don’t undergo regulatory testing for safety, quality, or effectiveness. They also issued a warning about a spike in overdoses and adverse side effects largely attributed to dosing errors with these drugs, due to them coming with syringes for people to draw the medications themselves, unlike brand-name GLP-1 injections that come in prefilled pens.

In 2024, the FDA raised concerns about the increased risk of dosing errors, improper storage, and fraudulently labeled GLP-1s from compounding pharmacies. Consequently, hundreds of people reported serious problems, including dangerous dosing mistakes, where patients got five to twenty times more than the proper dose.

By April of 2025, the FDA had logged over 520 reports linked to compounded semaglutide and 480 for compounded tirzepatide.

Additionally, U.S. poison centers have seen a nearly 1,500% increase in calls related to overdose or side effects of injectable weight-loss drugs since 2019. What’s more, as of April 30th, 2025, poison centers have managed 3,633 GLP-1 agonist-related exposure cases and 22,966 cases from 2019-2025.

The common side effects of GLP-1 antagonist poisoning include:

Nausea and vomiting
Constipation and diarrhea
Abdominal pain

Other symptoms and side effects to watch out for include:

Signs of severe dehydration such as fainting and confusion or not urinating for eight hours.
Pancreatitis, which usually feels like sharp pain in your upper abdomen and back.
Gastrointestinal symptoms that don’t improve when you eat smaller meals or take anti-nausea medications.
Gastrointestinal symptoms that grow worse rather than easing the longer you’re on the drug.

However, there are instances when it might be appropriate for a person to take a compounded drug, such as when a patient’s medical need can’t be met by an FDA-approved drug, or the FDA-approved drug is not commercially available.

If taking a compounded GLP-1 is your only option, it is important to confirm if it is coming from a 503B-registered outsourcing facility, rather than an unregistered seller, and that you remain under close medical supervision while using it.

Other clues that your compounded prescription may not be legitimate:

It does not require a prescription.
The pharmacy is not located within the U.S.
The medication arrives in packaging that is damaged, open, labeled in a foreign language, or has no expiration date.
Unusual delivery methods. Delivery methods other than injections and oral pills, such as sublingual drops and dissolving tablets, have not been tested in clinical trials.
Vague or proprietary ingredient lists. Products marketed as “personalized” blends with added vitamins or other ingredients, without a clear clinical rationale, are often designed to promote those additions to sidestep regulations rather than to benefit the patient.

If you need help locating a licensed online pharmacy, you can use the FDA’s BeSafeRx program. For more information about the Bariatric Surgery Services at Flushing Hospital or procedures performed by our doctors, please call 718-408-6977 or 718-670-8908.

Ultrasound vs Sonogram: What Is the Difference?

Posted on August 14, 2026 by Patrick Hercules

For many of us, medical terminology can be confusing. When you are scheduled for an exam, such as an ultrasound or a sonogram, they might sound like they are the same thing. However, ultrasounds and sonograms are two different parts of the same medical test.

An ultrasound exam is a procedure that uses sound waves beyond the range humans can hear to create images of soft tissues inside the body, helping healthcare providers diagnose or rule out several conditions. It is noninvasive, painless, and doesn’t use radiation.

An ultrasound can spot growths or abnormalities inside your body and can also clearly show and measure fluids.

Healthcare providers will use ultrasound exams to view:

Breast lumps and cysts

Muscles and tendons

Blood flow in your arms, neck, and legs

Abdominal organs, including your gallbladder, liver, pancreas, and spleen

Your urinary system, including your bladder and kidneys

Pelvic organs such as your ovaries, prostate, and uterus

Fluids, such as amniotic fluid during a pregnancy or urine in your bladder

An ultrasound can’t see everything, as it is usually not the best test for viewing bones, which block sound waves. Ultrasounds also can’t see structures inside your joints, such as cartilage.

Healthcare providers don’t just use ultrasound as a standalone medical exam. They also use it to guide minimally invasive procedures, such as breast biopsy.

A sonogram is a real-time, moving image created by an ultrasound machine. It can be printed, saved digitally, or used to show organs, soft tissues, blood flow, or a developing baby. Sonograms will be viewed and interpreted by a radiologist who will send a report to your referring healthcare provider with a diagnosis or other information based on your results. A healthcare provider will then study and review the sonogram images and video loops to detect abnormalities, monitor health conditions, and support treatment planning. These images help healthcare providers explain findings clearly and give patients a better understanding of their medical care.

Understanding the difference between an ultrasound and a sonogram helps patients navigate medical imaging more confidently. Both are safe, noninvasive, and widely used in medical diagnostics.

The Flushing Hospital Department of Radiology offers a wide variety of advanced, state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging services. To schedule an appointment, call 718-670-5458. To schedule an appointment for an MRI or learn more about the MRI, please call 718-670-8851.