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.

The leading causes of death in the United States (U.S.) are heart disease and strokes. Having high blood pressure—which affects about half of the adults in the U.S.—raises your risk of both. MedShadow reached out to Randell Wexler, MD, a primary care physician specializing in blood pressure control at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, to talk about what you need to know about measuring blood pressure and the habits and medications that can change your blood pressure. Q: Let’s start with the basics. What is blood pressure? What do those numbers represent? A: Blood pressure is the amount…

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A woman wrote to doctors at the University of California Los Angeles asking whether stress could be behind her new irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) diagnosis. She’d been diagnosed during the pandemic. She’d just started a new job, then lockdowns had her working in addition to homeschooling her children. Like many of us, she’d been incredibly stressed.  Spoiler alert: the doctors cannot definitively tell her the cause of her irritable bowel, but stress is a known trigger that often precedes both diagnoses and flare ups. Over the past few years, researchers have begun to understand  more and more of the reasons…

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The Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) outbreak in the US hit its peak in August of 2022, and has declined from causes about 400 illnesses a day to just one, but that doesn’t mean the danger is completely gone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained in a teleconference on May 18, 2023. In May 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an end to the global health emergency. While cases are fewer, breakouts are still happening. Between mid April 2023 and early May, experts identified an outbreak of 21 men with Mpox in the Chicago area. “All have…

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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…

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Read through MedShadow’s coverage of the side effects of drugs and you’ll see many of the same side effects mentioned over and over. For example, patients report nausea after taking a whole host of drugs, such as those for Lupus, HIV prevention, cancer and more. It’s crucial to differentiate side effects from symptoms, explains Suzanne Soliman, PharmD, founder of the Pharmacist Moms Group, so that you and your healthcare provider can work together to improve your care. She says, when she works with patients who are experiencing new symptoms or side effects, the first step is for her to take…

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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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When personal trainer and nutrition coach Erik was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), he says he felt almost betrayed: “The foods I consider paramount to my physical success are now turning against my body.” He says medicines haven’t helped much either, so he’s been experimenting with different foods and testing out an anti-inflammatory diet. None of those attempts have yet managed to end his first months-long IBS flare-ups. What Is IBS? IBS is “chronic abdominal pain with altered bowel movements in the absence of an identifiable cause,” says Aniruddh Setya, MD, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Kidz Medical Service in Hollywood,…

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High blood pressure is often called a “silent killer,” because, unless you’re having changes in your blood pressure measured regularly, you probably won’t know you have it. It is critical to make sure you don’t have high blood pressure, because it raises your risk for heart attack and stroke.  Nearly half of all US adults have high blood pressure To counter this  trend, health professionals often advise us to eat healthier and exercise more frequently. Sometimes, though, high blood pressure has little to do with our habits and more to do with the prescription pad. Changes in blood pressure—both higher…

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