By LAURA UNGAR

Menopause can usher in a host of disruptive symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats and sleep problems. Hormone therapy promises relief.

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But many women wonder about taking it. That’s because the treatment, subject of a recent expert panel convened by the Food and Drug Administration, has long been shrouded in uncertainty.

It was once used routinely. But in 2002, research testing one type was stopped early because of concerns about increased risks of breast cancer and blood clots. Concerns lingered even though later studies showed the benefits of today’s hormone therapies outweigh the risks for many women.

“There is still a lot of confusion and a lot of fear,” said Grayson Leverenz, a 50-year-old from Durham, North Carolina, who hesitated to take it but is glad she did.

Others increasingly are also giving hormone therapy a second look. But experts continue to disagree about how to present the treatment’s pros and cons. The FDA-assembled panel stressed the benefits and suggested health warnings be removed from at least some versions — prompting dozens of experts to call for more input before making any changes.

Doctors say hormone therapy is a great option for many, but not all, menopausal women — and it’s important to understand the nuanced reality of these treatments before deciding what’s best.

How hormone therapy works

It treats symptoms that can arise when menstruation winds down and ends, causing levels of estrogen and progesterone to drop very low.

One type is low-dose vaginal estrogen therapy. Because it’s applied into the vagina, very little circulates in the blood and the risks are far lower. Doctors say it’s a good option for women whose biggest complaint is vaginal dryness.

Whole-body therapy includes pills, patches, sprays, gels or a vaginal ring that deliver doses of hormones into the bloodstream at levels high enough to have significant effects on symptoms like hot flashes. Such systemic hormones include estrogens and progestogens.

Jennifer Zwink, a nurse in Castle Rock, Colorado, began using an estrogen patch more than a year ago and also has an IUD, which gives her progesterone. The treatment has relieved her hot flashes, improved her sleep and eased her joint pain and bloating.

“It’s not like a 100% magic wand,” she said. “But it definitely has made a significant difference.”

The Menopause Society says hormone therapy can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease if started within 10 years of reaching menopause. It may also reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes and maintain bone density for longer.

“They might have a drop in their bone density at age 60” instead of at age 50, said Dr. MargEva Morris Cole, an OB-GYN with Duke University.

Hormone therapy carries some risks

When Leverenz was first prescribed hormone therapy last year, she kept worrying about the risks she’d heard about — then finally decided: “I can’t live like this anymore.”

With a combination of three medications, her anxiety lifted, her sleep improved, her joint pain and hot flashes went away.

“I just feel like myself again,” she said.

Doctors say many patients hesitate to try hormones, and they try to reassure them.

Women can use estrogen therapy for seven years – and estrogen-progestogen therapy for three to five years – before breast cancer risk goes up, according to the Menopause Society.

The group says both estrogen therapy and estrogen-progestogen therapy increase the risk of stroke, which goes away soon after stopping hormones. The risk of blood clots rises if you take hormones by mouth, but may be lower if you use a patch, gel or spray.

“A lot of these risks are small,” said Dr. Nanette Santoro, an OB-GYN at the University of Colorado. “And they have to be weighed against the benefit of symptom relief.”

Age, medical history and how long women stay on the hormones are also considerations. Many women take them for around five years, and those who’ve had a stroke or certain other conditions may be advised against using them at all.

Debate on changing warnings on hormone medications

Doctors are divided over whether there should be changes in “black box” health warnings on some hormone treatments. All estrogen drugs still carry boxed warnings about the higher rates of stroke, blood clots and cognitive problems among women taking the medications.

Most of the physicians at the recent expert panel meeting convened by the FDA prescribe the hormones or are involved with a pharmaceutical industry campaign opposing the warning label. A letter signed by 76 doctors and researchers argues that “removing label warnings without adequate scientific assessment puts patients at risk,” and asked the agency to hold an advisory committee meeting with a public hearing before making any changes.

In the meantime, doctors urge people to be wary of misinformation, like false claims on social media posts that hormones will prevent dementia and ensure a healthy old age.

“We can’t say that you are going to live a longer, healthier life because you took hormones,” Duke’s Cole said. “I don’t want the pendulum to go so far that people feel that it is promising health for the next 30 to 40 years.”

Alternatives to hormone therapy for menopause

Santoro pointed to a new non-hormonal medication called fezolinetant, marketed as Veozah, for hot flashes and night sweats. The anti-epileptic medication gabapentin, in low doses, can also be used for hot flashes and a moisturizer can improve vaginal dryness.

Experts also say regular exercise and a healthy diet can help manage symptoms.

Santoro urged against the “wild proliferation” of supplements claiming to be menopause cure-alls.

“Everybody is in on the menopause gold rush,” she said. “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By HILLEL ITALIE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Fall books mean more than literary fiction. The top releases this season range from a fairy tale newly told to memoirs about a famous writer’s indomitable mother and life after marriage to a famous rock star. Some books were a decade or more in the making, while former Vice President Kamala Harris’ “107 Days” was finished in a matter of months.

Here are 10 new books to look for.

“Hansel and Gretel,” Stephen King

You may think you know the Grimms’ fairy tale about two children lost in the woods. But a new edition this fall promises a fresh and modern take: the words are by Stephen King and the illustrations from the archives of the late Maurice Sendak, who had worked on a 1990s opera adaptation. Warns King in the book’s introduction: “You will say that I have taken liberties with the story told by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm — I have, and I don’t apologize.” (Sept. 2)

“Mother Mary Comes to Me,” Arundhati Roy

This cover image released by Scribner shows “Mother Mary Comes to Me” by Arundhati Roy. (Scribner via AP)

Arundhati Roy’s memoir offers anguished tribute to her longtime tormentor and heroine: her late mother, Mary Roy, the educator and activist who founded a renowned high school in India and otherwise rarely missed a chance to disparage but still inspire her famous daughter. “I had constructed myself around her,” the author writes. “I had grown into the peculiar shape that I am to accommodate her. I had never wanted to defeat her, never wanted to win. I had always wanted her to go out like a queen.” (Sept. 2)

“The Wilderness,” Angela Flournoy

This cover image released by Mariner shows “The Wilderness” by Angela Flournoy. (Mariner via AP)

Angela Flournoy’s acclaimed debut, “The Turner House,” was set around an aging family home in Detroit. In “The Wilderness,” she traces the cross-country lives of five Black women from youth to middle age. The author also offers a mini-tour of airports, from the underwhelming sites of landing at Charles de Gaulle in Paris to the view of pyramids in Cairo. A universal truth, she writes: “If the surrounding city has a decent Black population, then a good number of them will be working at the airport.” (Sept. 16)

“107 Days,” Kamala Harris

This cover image released by Simon & Schuster shows “107 Days” by Kamala Harris. (Simon & Schuster via AP)

Publisher Simon & Schuster is promising a compelling campaign memoir from former Vice President Kamala Harris that addresses “everything we would want her to address.” That presumably includes Harris’ thoughts on the mental and physical condition of President Joe Biden, whose decision to withdraw his candidacy led to Harris’ historic, frantic and unsuccessful run against Republican Donald Trump. Harris has called the book, written with the assistance of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Geraldine Brooks, the result of looking back “with candor and reflection.” (Sept. 23)

“The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny,” Kiran Desai

FILE – Indian author Kiran Desai speaks during a reading event in solidarity with Salman Rushdie outside the New York Public Library, Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

Kiran Desai’s first novel in nearly 20 years, since her Booker Prize-winning “The Inheritance of Loss,” is on the Booker longlist and is also a story of contrasting lives: a successful novelist returning to her native India and a New York-based journalist — a copy editor for, of all places, The Associated Press. (Desai has not yet named a real-life counterpart as inspiration.) Separated by geography, they are connected by the will of their families, who would very much like to arrange a marriage. (Sept. 23)

“Softly, As I Leave You,” Priscilla Presley

This image released by Grand Central Publishing shows “Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis” by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, with Mary Jane Ross. (Grand Central Publishing via AP)

Priscilla Presley has been so defined by her years with Elvis that the 2023 biopic “Priscilla” ends with their breakup in 1973. But readers of “Softly, As I Leave You” will learn that she forged a long and successful career on her own. She was Bobby Ewing’s ex-fiancee, Jenna Wade, in “Dallas” and the love interest for Leslie Nielsen in the “Naked Gun” spoofs. (Presley appears briefly in the current remake.) She even revealed a knack for marketing. When Elvis’ Graceland estate was in disrepair in the years following his 1977 death, she opened it to the public and helped make the property among the world’s most popular tourist destinations. Currently in a legal battle with a former business partner, Presley also writes of enduring other tragedies besides the death of her ex-husband, notably the loss of daughter Lisa Marie Presley two years ago. (Sept. 23)

“We Love You, Bunny,” Mona Awad

Six years ago, Canadian author Mona Awad’s bestselling “Bunny” was praised by Margaret Atwood, among others, for its blend of horror and academic satire set around a clique of creative writing students who call each other “Bunny.” In her follow-up novel, onetime outsider Samantha Heather Mackey is herself a bestselling author and the bunnies have a few things to say about her material. “So funny that you described me as a maniacal hair braider,” one of them tells her. “I laughed until I cried blood.” (Sept. 23)

“The Impossible Fortune,” Richard Osman

Richard Osman poses for photographers upon arrival at the screening of the film ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in London. (Photo by Millie Turner/Invision/AP)

Richard Osman is an all-around success story, an author, producer and personality who has been a fixture for years in British television. He now enjoys critical acclaim and millions of sales as the creator of the “Thursday Murder Club” mystery novels, in which four pensioners in a retirement community take on cases new and old. The fifth in the series, “The Impossible Fortune,” blends wedding plans and a sudden disappearance that has Osman’s sleuths in search of answers. (Sept. 30)

“Shadow Ticket,” Thomas Pynchon

Thomas Pynchon’s latest novel is his first in more than a decade. Now 88, the author most famous for the epic “Gravity’s Rainbow” has rarely settled for a simple storyline. Like his comic novel “Inherent Vice,” there’s a detective at the center of the narrative, one Hicks McTaggart, who will “find himself also entangled with Nazis, Soviet agents, British counterspies, swing musicians, practitioners of the paranormal, outlaw motorcyclists, and the troubles that come with each of them.” (Oct. 7)

“Unfettered,” John Fetterman

This book cover image released by Crown shows “Unfettered” by John Fetterman. (Crown via AP)

Few Washington legislators are more recognizable than Sen. John Fetterman, the 6-foot-8-inch, hoodie-wearing Pennsylvania Democrat whose physical and mental health struggles and his battles with both Republicans and his own party have kept him in the news since he ran for the Senate in 2022. His publisher, Crown, is calling “Unfettered” a “raw and visceral” and “unapologetic account of his unconventional life.” (Nov. 11)

By HILLEL ITALIE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — In the decade since she published her acclaimed debut novel, “The Turner House,” Angela Flournoy has confronted a few delays, welcome and otherwise, en route to completing her second book: her first child, a pandemic, speaking engagements, the occasional essay and, throughout, the challenges of creating a work of imagination.

“With nonfiction, you’re usually doing it on a deadline, there’s a constraint of time, and when it’s over, it’s over,” says Flournoy, whose novel “The Wilderness” is out this fall. “When you’re working with facts, they’re not really malleable. But with novels I create the reality. And the timing is up to me.”

The upcoming literary season will feature many books you might call long- or eagerly awaited: It will be in part a story of comebacks, completions and follow-ups, with some of the book world’s biggest names returning to fiction after absences of a decade or more.

Thomas Pynchon’s “Shadow Ticket” is his first novel since 2013’s “Bleeding Edge.” Kiran Desai’s “The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny” is her first novel since her celebrated “The Inheritance of Loss” came out 20 years ago. Wendell Berry breaks a long absence from fiction with “Marce Catlett,” narrated by his alter ego and fellow Kentuckian, Andy Catlett. George Packer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist, will publish his first novel since the 1990s, “The Emergency.”

“The Land of Sweet Forever” compiles stories and essays from the late Harper Lee, who in 2015 stunned the world by authorizing the release of “Go Set a Watchman,” a precursor to her classic “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Fiction also is expected from Patricia Lockwood, Ian McEwan, Thomas McGuane, Gish Jen, Ken Follett and John Irving, while two Booker Prize winners will have memoirs out: Margaret Atwood has written “Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts” and Arundhati Roy, best known for “The God of Small Things,” will publish “Mother Mary Comes to Me.”

Some books arrive highly anticipated, even if the wait was relatively short. R.F. Kuang’s “Katabasis” is her first novel since the bestselling satire “Yellowface,” which came out in 2023. Megha Majumdar follows her acclaimed debut from 2020, “A Burning,” with “A Guardian and a Thief.” Salman Rushdie’s story collection, “The Eleventh Hour,” is his first book of fiction since he survived a stabbing attack in 2022.

“We Love You Bunny,” the follow-up to Mona Awad’s dark campus satire from 2019, “Bunny,” is a meta-tale of a novelist gone viral.

“No book has stuck with me longer than ‘Bunny.’ I missed the fever-dreamy world of it so much,” Awad wrote in an email. “I think part of the reason had to do with the incredibly creative and rich reader response, which I still can’t believe. It kept the story alive and expanding in my head and I felt compelled to return.”

Thrills, chills, romance

“Gone Before Goodbye” pairs Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon with master thriller writer Harlan Coben. “Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown brings back protagonist Robert Langdon in “The Secret of Secrets,” and “Exit Strategy” is the latest Jack Reacher novel from brothers Lee and Andrew Child. Richard Osman’s “Thursday Murder Club” series continues with “The Impossible Fortune” and Mick Herron has written his ninth “Slough House” book, “Clown Town.”

Child-friendly tension will arrive in a new edition of “Hansel and Gretel,” as written by Stephen King, with illustrations from the archives of the late Maurice Sendak.

New romance and romantasy is expected from Tessa Bailey, Harley Laroux and Ana Huang, whose “The Defender” is the second book in her “Gods of the Game” series. Ali Hazelwood follows her paranormal hit “Bride” with “Mate” and Brynne Weaver begins the “Seasons of Carnage” series with a tale of serial killers in love, “Tourist Season.” Erin A. Craig, known for such scary tales as “House of Salt and Sorrows,” has written “A Land So Wide.”

Celebrities telling all

Priscilla Presley’s “Softly, As I Leave You” continues her story from the memoir “Elvis and Me,” which ended with their breakup and Elvis’ death, in 1977. (The book was completed before her current legal battle with a former business partner). Michael J. Fox remembers the ’80s in “Future Boy,” Paul McCartney looks back on his post-Beatles work in “Wings” and Patti Smith reflects on childhood, love and grief in “Bread of Angels.”

Memoirs also are coming from Lionel Richie and Anthony Hopkins, Kenny Chesney and Cameron Crowe. Charlie Sheen opens up about his scandalous life in “The Book of Sheen” and Emmy-nominated actor Cheryl Hines, wife of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is scheduled to release “Cheryl Hines Unscripted.”

“With humor, wisdom, and unflinching honesty, Cheryl navigates the highs and lows of fame, family, and an unexpected foray into politics — complete with twists no one saw coming,” the publisher, Skyhorse, describes her book.

A break from Washington

Publishers have said that they didn’t expect books on President Donald Trump to have the same appeal as they did during his first term; apart from Jonathan Karl’s election chronicle “Retribution” and Scott Jennings’ “A Revolution of Common Sense,” few fall titles center on him and few so far are in the pipeline for 2026.

“Readers are looking more for books on the economy and geopolitical landscape than they are on anything more current in politics,” says Barnes & Noble’s director of books, Shannon DeVito, citing Andrew Ross Sorkin’s “1929,” about the stock market crash; and Joyce Vance’s “Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy.”

Some prior administrations will be heard from. Former Vice President Kamala Harris has completed “107 Days,” about her hurried 2024 campaign. “Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines” is a memoir from a White House press secretary under President Joe Biden, Karine Jean-Pierre, who has since announced her departure from the Democratic Party. Former first lady Michelle Obama’s latest looks back on her life — or at least what she has worn — in the illustrated fashion memoir “The Look.”

A handful of books anticipate next year’s 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. “The American Revolution: An Intimate History,” by Ken Burns and Geoffrey Ward, is a companion to Burns’ upcoming documentary. Walter Isaacson’s “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written” looks in depth at the Declaration of Independence. Donald Sassoon’s “Revolutions: A New History” documents the worldwide impact of America’s break from Britain. Joseph Ellis’ “The Great Contradiction” probes the flaws and virtues of Thomas Jefferson and other founders.

Other works will reflect on the war in Gaza, which nears its second anniversary, with releases ranging from former Hamas captive Eli Sharabi’s “Hostage” to diary excerpts from Palestinian Plestia Alaqad, “The Eyes of Gaza.”

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Poetry old and new

“The New Book” compiles final words from poet Nikki Giovanni, who died last year. Ada Limón’s “Startlement” is her first collection since her term as U.S. poet laureate ended last spring, while former laureate Billy Collins is releasing “Dog Show,” which features watercolor drawings by Pamela Sztybel.

“The Poems of Seamus Heaney” collects all of the work by the late Nobel laureate and “Only Sing” features more than 100 unpublished works by the late John Berryman. Harryette Mullen, Anne Waldman, Leila Chatti, Roque Raquel Salas Rivera and Chet’la Sebree are among the contemporary poets with books out this fall.

Visions of the future

You could fill a shelf, or an e-reader, this fall just with notable books on climate change, from Neil Shea’s “Frostlines” to Elizabeth Kolbert’s “Life on a Little-Known Planet: Dispatches from a Changing World.”

In “The Long Heat: Climate Politics When It’s Too Late,” authors Andreas Malm and Wim Carton examine our failure so far to prevent rising temperatures and what, if anything, is possible now, while warning of a “rough ride over the coming decades.” Environmentalist Bill McKibben, a self-described “hard realist” who has been writing about climate change for decades, has completed “Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization,” in which he challenges both climate deniers and those who say catastrophe is inevitable.

“We’re not going to stop global warming, that’s no longer on the menu, but we can still talk about whether we can stop it from cutting off civilization,” McKibben told The Associated Press, citing the dramatic reduction in costs for solar power and other forms of energy he believes no longer should be called “alternative.”

“People are used to thinking of solar and wind as the Whole Foods of energy — nice, but pricey. Now it’s the Costco of energy — it’s available in bulk and on the shelf.”

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT

A nearly complete wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut faces an uncertain future as the states’ Democratic governors, members of Congress and union workers are calling Monday for the Trump administration to let construction resume.

The administration halted construction on the Revolution Wind project last week, saying the federal government needs to review the project and address national security concerns. It did not specify what those concerns are. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Monday it’s not commenting further at this time.

The Democratic politicians are getting involved because stopping work on Revolution Wind threatens local jobs and their states’ climate goals, and could drive up electricity prices throughout the region. Officials say the project is 80% complete, with all the underwater foundations and 45 out of 65 turbines already installed.

Large, ocean-based wind farms are the linchpin of government plans to shift to renewable energy, particularly in East Coast states with large populations and limited land for wind turbines or solar arrays.

President Donald Trump has made sweeping strides to prioritize fossil fuels and hinder renewable energy projects. Those include reviewing wind and solar energy permits, canceling plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development and stopping work on another offshore wind project under construction for New York, although construction was later allowed to resume.

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee is headed to North Kingstown, where the logistics and operations hub for the project is located. The governor has said the wind farm is critical to the region’s economy and energy future. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont spoke at State Pier in New London, where components for the Revolution Wind project are kept before being taken out to sea.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said during Monday’s press conference that it was “nuts, crazy, insane” to halt a fully approved project that would save ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars. He expects the courts to agree that the Trump administration acted unlawfully when it stopped the project based on “secret information.”

Revolution Wind is expected to be Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first large offshore wind farm, capable of powering more than 350,000 homes. Power would be provided at a rate of 9.8 cents per kilowatt hour, locked in for 20 years. That is cheaper than the average cost of electricity in New England.

About 1,000 union members have been working on Revolution Wind, and those jobs are now at risk.

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“This isn’t work that anybody can do,” Keith Brothers, business manager of the Connecticut Laborers’ District Council, said about the specialized skills the workers on this project have. “We’ve taken people from the military, we’ve placed them on jobs on this specific site, that’s important.”

A statement from North America’s Building Trades Unions was more direct: “President Donald Trump just fired 1,000 of our members.”

The developer, Danish energy company Orsted, is evaluating the financial impact of stopping construction and considering legal proceedings.

The project site is more than 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of the Rhode Island coast, 32 miles (51 kilometers) southeast of the Connecticut coast and 12 miles (19 kilometers) southwest of Martha’s Vineyard. Rhode Island is already home to one offshore wind farm in state waters, the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.

The Trump administration previously stopped work on Empire Wind, the New York offshore wind project. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said it appeared former President Joe Biden’s administration had “rushed through” the approvals, although the developer Equinor spent seven years obtaining permits. Construction was allowed to resume in May after two of the state’s Democratic leaders, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, intervened.

Associated Press writer Isabella O’Malley in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.