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.

When pregnant, chances are you will have a lot of questions. One of them shouldn’t be “can I take this drug while pregnant,” but sadly research is often lacking in this topic. Tylenol While Pregnant In the last week of September 2021, a group of more than 90 doctors and researchers published a call to action, cautioning against the liberal use of Tylenol (acetaminophen) during pregnancy. The studies suggested that exposure to the drug could increase the risk of a baby having neurodevelopmental, reproductive, and urogenital disorders. The authors added, however, that Tylenol has long been considered one of the…

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If you have heard about the latest craze of taking the supplement known as Ashwagandha for anxiety, you are not alone. There is certainly a buzz around this popular supplement. But what exactly is it, and what can ashwagandha do for you? Todd Miller had been taking Wellbutrin, an antidepressant, when he decided to add ashwagandha to his regimen about two years ago. He doesn’t remember where he heard about ashwagandha, but he says, “I always felt like [wellbutrin] made me sort of sluggish and slow.”  With ashwagandha, he says, he not only feels that his depression is managed, but…

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Madeline Shonka told MedShadow it took her years to get an accurate lupus diagnosis. Even then, she had to go through trial and error with many different combinations of medications for treatment, all the while trying to decipher the best lifestyle changes to manage her condition. For example, she eventually discovered that making time for light exercise had a huge positive impact on her quality of life. Jill Dehlin, an RN who suffers from migraines, told MedShadow that tracking her symptoms helped immensely. “I recommend to everyone that I speak with to keep a journal or diary and keep track…

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In 2018, two young men were found dead in their respective bathrooms in Texas after using a concentrated powder form of tianeptine.  Tianeptine is an antidepressant prescribed in Europe, Asia and South America. It’s banned in the US, but it’s found its way here. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning about the drug’s risks in 2018. Then in February 2022, the agency put out a new warning after scientists found a large increase in calls to poison control centers related to tianeptine poisoning. What is Tianeptine? Tianeptine, sold under the brand names of Coaxil and Stablon, is…

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Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress, but for some people, it can become overwhelming and debilitating. People with types of anxiety disorder feel apprehensive and uneasy, and it’s common for them to experience negative thoughts that make them more fearful. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): More than 40 million American adults ages 18 and older have an anxiety disorder, and nearly one-third of adults will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their life. Anxiety disorders frequently co-occur with depressive disorders or substance abuse. Most people with an anxiety disorder also have depression.  Most…

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Treating Osteoporosis Without Bisphosphonates Lara Pizzorno minces no words when explaining why she didn’t want to take a class of drugs called bisphosphonates when she got a surprising diagnosis of osteopenia – weak bones, but not osteoporosis – at age 43. “You only need them if you want to accumulate crummy brittle bones,” said the editor of Longevity Medicine Review and author of the book Your Bones: How You Can Prevent Osteoporosis and Have Strong Bones for Life Naturally. R. Keith McCormick puts it this way in his book, The Whole Body Approach to Osteoporosis: “Using bisphosphonates is like your…

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Less than 40% of senior adults report adverse events they experience with a medication to their doctor. A retrospective study looked at 860 people 70 and older who were living in their community and had multiple health issues. They were asked if they had experienced a list of symptoms, whether a symptom bothered them, if they thought it was related to a medication and if they had talked about it with their doctor. Results showed that the main reasons patients didn’t tell their doctor about adverse events was that they thought it was related to their old age and they…

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