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…

Read More

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…

Read More

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…

Read More

Olivia Walker was diagnosed with Lupus when she was just 6 years old. Over the past 25 years, she’s been prescribed “nearly everything on the market.”  For the most part, that consists of over the counter painkillers, corticosteroids, and hydroxychloroquine (yes, the one that some thought could help treat COVID early in the pandemic.) Just recently, she started taking Benlysta (belimumab), a drug approved in 2011 specifically for lupus.  “It has been my favorite of the treatments I’ve taken over the last 25-plus years,” she says. “I find myself having more energy and fewer symptoms.”  But Walker is Black, and…

Read More

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…

Read More

It took seven years for Madeline Shonka to be diagnosed with lupus. Unfortunately, her struggles didn’t end there.  The side effects of medications for lupus that her healthcare providers prescribed were often debilitating side effects, such as weight gain, rashes and even difficulty managing anger. Then, over time, her physicians tested different, better-suited treatments on Shonka. She found that certain new habits, like light exercise, made a big difference in her quality of life. She then founded Co-immunity, which hosts support groups for patients with chronic illnesses, so that they can share their experiences. What Is Lupus? Lupus is an…

Read More

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…

Read More

​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…

Read More

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…

Read More