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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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…

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Regular MedShadow readers are likely familiar with the idea of deprescribing—the process of reducing the number or dose of drugs a person is taking. MedShadow has written about the phenomenon before. But, while the idea of taking fewer medications is simple, the real world process of deprescribing while balancing risks versus benefits is complicated. Some medications have withdrawal symptoms, and tapering may take time. The Therapeutics Initiative at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is hosting a series of webinars with healthcare professionals sharing real-life stories about their own patients whose medications they were able to reduce, and what happened…

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Regular MedShadow readers are likely familiar with the idea of deprescribing—the process of reducing the number or dose of drugs a person is taking. MedShadow has written about the phenomenon before. But, while the idea of taking fewer medications is simple, the process of deprescribing while balancing risks versus benefits is complicated. Some medications have withdrawal symptoms, and tapering may take time. The Therapeutics Initiative at the University of British Columbia is hosting a series of webinars with healthcare professionals sharing real-life stories of their own patients whose medications they were able to reduce, and what happened when they did.…

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Antipsychotic side effects may include excessive gambling, impulsive behavior, and even suicidal ideation, according to several black box warnings the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has slapped on the drugs over several years. Still, the drugs haven’t been removed from the market. That’s because they’re a crucial class of drugs despite the risks, as the psychosis they treat can be exceptionally dangerous. Here’s what you need to know. What Are Antipsychotics? Antipsychotic drugs are used to treat psychosis, a situation in which a person loses touch with reality.  “Here in my room, I have a smoke detector,” says Maximilian Huhn,…

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Shalamar suffered from chronic insomnia. She couldn’t fall asleep after her late-night shifts as a server at a New York City bar. To address the insomnia, she sought advice from a psychiatrist who prescribed pills and told her to take them both at night and in the morning. She thought it was odd that she would need to take a pill to help her sleep during the day, but her doctor said that is how the medicine worked. She followed the doctor’s recommendations, though. “It did help me to sleep. I slept like a rock,” she says.  What her doctor…

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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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The incidence of depression and anxiety has surged among adults in the United States over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC survey suggested that from 2019 to 2020, symptoms of anxiety disorders and depression have tripled and quadrupled, respectively. As you might expect, prescriptions for antidepressant and antianxiety drugs also have spiked, according to the telehealth platform iPrescribe. While many patients with severe or chronic depression or anxiety may need to continue using these medications long term, you may think that, given the return of opportunities for working…

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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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A common side effect of antipsychotic medications is that they can cause users to gain weight. Now researchers believe they have found a way to counteract that weight gain. Scientists from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center discovered that serotonin 2C receptors interacting with antipsychotic medications for schizophrenia and depression leads to the increase in weight. Similar side effects occur with other metabolic changing drugs, such as many types of birth control and thyroid medications. According to the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, many people who use antipsychotics have found that after using these drugs for…

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