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.

Alzheimer’s disease is scary. While pharmaceutical treatments exist, their effectiveness is minimal at best, and with the headlines about fraud in one of the early studies on the nature of the disease, you may be feeling like dementia is more mysterious than ever, or that there is nothing you can do about it. But some lifestyle changes you can make today can prevent Alzheimer’s for you down the road. MedShadow’s Medical Advisory Board Member, George Grossberg, MD, works with people who have Alzheimer’s and their families at the St. Louis School of Medicine in Missouri. He explains that, while we…

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​Early in Dee Mangin’s career as a primary-care physician, she noticed that many people, especially older adults, were prescribed large numbers and doses of drugs, which, in some cases, might actually be detracting from their health rather than improving it. Then, she realized that even when polypharmacy (being prescribed five or more medications simultaneously) was recognized as a problem, there wasn’t any systematic way to help patients and healthcare providers assess which medicines might be most effective in a lower dose or discontinued altogether.  Mangin is an MBChB (the New Zealand equivalent of an MD) and DPH (doctor of public…

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