Author: Emma Yasinski

Emma Yasinski

I am a freelance science and medical journalist, fascinated by how the scientific process leads to incredible discoveries, but also can lead to publication bias leaning toward positive findings and minimizing negatives. With a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Lafayette College and a Master’s in Science and Medical Journalism from Boston University, I’ve written about clinical trial transparency, organ donation, and basic molecular biology for publications like The Scientist, The Atlantic, Undark.org, Kaiser Health News, and more. At MedShadow, I research and write about the sometimes unexpected ways that medicines can affect us, and what we can do if and when it does.

Heat Exhaustion & Heatstroke Yet another heat wave is “baking” the U.S. and is expected to last all week. And this is just the first full week of summer. In 2022, thousands of people died from heat-related causes in Spain, Portugal United Kingdom, the United States, and India. Extra-high temperatures are perilous for everyone, but they are even more so for the elderly, people who need electric medical equipment and for those on medications with side effects that can increase their sensitivity to heat. You may need to take extra caution to remain safe when the heat rises. Heat exhaustion is…

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Once again, wildfire smoke is blowing across the U.S. With it, come dangerous particles that can irritate your throat, skin, and eyes. It may interact with your medications and raise your risk for long term conditions. The New York Times shared this time lapse of smoke engulfing the city on June 7, 2023. @nytimes The sky in New York City rapidly darkened on Wednesday afternoon, as a plume of smoke from Canadian wildfires approached the nation’s largest city and sent its air quality index soaring past 324, the worst level since the Environmental Protection Agency began recording air quality measurements…

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Mental health is a description of your psychological and emotional wellbeing. Your mental health can impact everything from your productivity at work or school, to your relationships to your risk for long term conditions like heart disease. Making sure you get regular exercise, eat a healthy diet, socialize and take time to relax are all crucial to maintaining your mental health. But sometimes, mental health conditions, also known as mental illnesses, strike anyway. A mental illness is any condition, such as depression or schizophrenia, that impacts your thinking, behavior, or mood. While they often emerge on their own, they can…

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Do you ever have acid reflux and wonder if it’s really a heart attack? Do you see headlines every winter warning of the dangers of “Holiday Heart Syndrome” and find yourself wondering if the stress and indulgence of the holidays can actually cause a specific heart disease? MedShadow explains everything you need to know about the conditions, their treatments, and the side effects of drugs used to treat heart disease. How the Heart Organ Works What Is Heart Disease? Heart disease is any condition that affects the way your heart functions. Heart disease can be structural, for example, a birth…

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The primary cause of acne is clogged pores. Your pores can be clogged by bacteria, dead-skin cells or sebum, an oily substance secreted by your skin. The clogs cause redness and inflammation, which can be painful. Some doctors and patients believe that our diets can be the root cause of certain types of acne, but, for the most part, our lifestyles and hygiene are not to blame. Many women experience hormonal acne, which flares up at specific times during their menstrual cycles, or because of hormonal conditions, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a disorder that affects many women. What…

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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a term often “thrown around loosely,” says Howard Pratt, doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) and a psychiatrist at the Community Health of South Florida, who treats PTSD. In reality, it’s is a condition in which you might develop a variety of symptoms like nightmares, intrusive memories, or a tendency to avoid anything that reminds you of a traumatic event you experienced or even heard about. You might get startled easily or even blame yourself for what happened to you or to a friend. “What really makes it difficult is that these are not consistent things…

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Earlier this week, the United States paused the use of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine to investigate six cases of blood clots, one fatal, that occurred in women within two weeks of receiving the shot. MedShadow reported this in our vaccine side effect tracker article.  In a rush to assuage fears about taking the J&J vaccine, some experts, and even lay people,  took to social media to put the risk in perspective. Many compared the potential of getting a blood clot from taking oral contraceptives (one in 1,000) to that of getting a blood clot from having the vaccine…

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