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.

Usually, our immune systems protect us from all kinds of outside invaders like the bacteria that causes strep throat and the virus that causes COVID, but what happens when our immune system’s highly-specialized antibodies, white blood cells, and inflammatory molecules glitch and turn against us, attacking our body’s own tissues and organs? We get autoimmune diseases.  There are 80 types of autoimmune diseases, and they’re often difficult to diagnose. The symptoms of autoimmune diseases can vary widely based on the parts of the body that are affected. Often, the symptoms of autoimmune diseases, like painful swelling and inflammation, change from…

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Do you wake up with stiffness and joint pain? Have you been wondering whether you’re injured, you’re developing arthritis or if you just need a good stretch? Even if you do have arthritis, diet and exercise may go a long way toward mitigating your symptoms. MedShadow explains. What Is Arthritis? There are more than 100 types of arthritis, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but one thing they all have in common is that any arthritis damages the cartilage in your joints. In some cases, only a single joint will be affected, whereas for others, the…

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When Zoe was 13 years old, the doctors told her she had juvenile arthritis, a diagnosis that could impact the rest of her life. For the year prior, her pain had been so severe she was walking with crutches and wearing two wrist braces. Today, she manages the condition with a combination of prescription drugs, diet, and thoughtful exercise. While physical activity is an important part of her routine, she recognized in high school that certain types—such as rowing and running—caused her more joint pain, so she switched to activities that were easier on her joints. What Is Juvenile Arthritis?…

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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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✅ This article was reviewed and approved by Shamard Charles, member of our MedShadow Medical Advisory Board. Vickie Hadge wasn’t diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) until more than 10 years after her first symptoms appeared. For that first decade, when she knew something was wrong and she didn’t know what, she took her health into her own hands, adopted a vegetarian diet and took up yoga and meditation. When she was finally diagnosed with MS in 2017, she was prescribed a disease-modifying medication, Copaxone (glatiramer acetate). Since the diagnosis, she says, she has remained relapse-free. For that, she credits both…

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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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