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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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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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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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…

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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…

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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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Download the full Burnout or Depression Infograph. Puja Aggarwal, MD, a neurologist, remembers the time six years ago she experienced burnout. “I was working long hours, socially withdrawn, not sleeping, feeling empty and giving all my time to work. I was not able to show up well as a mother or take care of myself,” Aggarwal explained about the challenging time. After she sought the help of a life coach, she was so inspired by how the guidance helped her achieve a healthier work-life balance that she pursued a life coach certification for herself. Many of us can probably say…

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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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Shingles is not your average rash. The painful, itchy red stripe caused by shingles can last up to 10 days, while long-term nerve pain, a common complication, can persist for months or years. In the rare event that the outbreak appears on your face, it can even cause blindness. Luckily, there’s a two-dose vaccine, Shingrix (zoster vaccine recombinant, adjuvanted), that can prevent the disease. It’s recommended for people 50 years and older, even if you’ve already had shingles, and those 19 and older who are immunosuppressed. Shingles is a unique disease in that it’s not caused by a new infection.…

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