Public HealthAugust 29, 2022
How to Improve Indoor Air Quality
Why do we pay attention to the quality of our drinking water but not to our indoor air? Scientific American senior health editor Tanya Lewis explains how and why this matters.
Stories by Tanya Lewis
Tanya Lewis is senior desk editor for health and medicine at Scientific American. She writes and edits stories for the website and print magazine on topics ranging from COVID to organ transplants. She also appears on Scientific American’s podcast Science Quickly and writes Scientific American’s weekly Health & Medicine newsletter. She has held a number of positions over her nine years at Scientific American, including health editor, assistant news editor and associate editor at Scientific American Mind. Previously, she has written for outlets that include Insider, Wired, Science News and others. She has a degree in biomedical engineering from Brown University and one in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Follow her on Bluesky @tanyalewis.bsky.social
Public HealthAugust 17, 2022
Mpox Explained: Transmission, Symptoms, Vaccines and Treatment
Frequently asked questions about how mpox spreads, who’s most at risk, and what vaccines and treatments are available
VaccinesAugust 16, 2022
Monkeypox Update and Homing in on Long COVID: COVID, Quickly, Episode 36
On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we take a few minutes to talk about the other virus making headlines—and then return to long COVID.
PhysiologyAugust 10, 2022
How Scientists Revived Dead Pigs’ Organs, and What the Feat Means for Transplants
A whole-body perfusion system restored cellular activity in pigs an hour postmortem
VaccinesAugust 2, 2022
How Common Are Reinfections? And How Trust Can Beat the Virus: COVID, Quickly, Episode 35
On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we talk about getting reinfected with the coronavirus just a month or two after an earlier bout—and the difference that trusting others can make in a pandemic.
PhysiologyAugust 1, 2022
Scientists Revive Human Retinas after Death
Restoring eye tissue postmortem could pave the way for reviving other types of brain tissue
MedicineJuly 29, 2022
There Is an Effective Treatment for Monkeypox, but It’s Hard to Get
A smallpox antiviral that’s effective against monkeypox is tied up in red tape, and gay-health advocates are pushing to make it easier to access
VaccinesJuly 15, 2022
5 Things to Know about Monkeypox
From symptoms to vaccines and treatment, here are some fast facts about monkeypox.
EpidemiologyJuly 14, 2022
U.S. Monkeypox Response Has Been Woefully Inadequate, Experts Say
Testing bottlenecks and vaccine rollout problems have let the monkeypox virus spread unchecked, echoing the mistakes of the U.S. COVID response
VaccinesJuly 12, 2022
Omicron’s Nasty New Variants and Better Boosters to Battle Them: COVID, Quickly, Episode 34
On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we talk about the increase in new Omicron subvariants. Should fall vaccine boosters contain standard Omicron or some of those new subvariants instead?
ReproductionJuly 1, 2022
How Abortion Medications Differ from Plan B and Other Emergency Contraceptives
Drugs such as mifepristone and misoprostol end a pregnancy, whereas the “morning-after pill” works by preventing one
VaccinesJune 27, 2022
Kids’ Vaccines at Last and Challenges in Making New Drugs: COVID, Quickly, Episode 33
On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we discuss some parents breathing a collective sigh of relief and the paradox of how effective vaccines can make it harder to create new drugs to treat patients who get the coronavirus.
VaccinesJune 15, 2022
COVID Vaccines for Kids Younger Than Five Get Green Light from Regulators
An advisory committee voted unanimously to recommend authorizing the Moderna and Pfizer shots for the youngest children
VaccinesJune 13, 2022
COVID Death Rates Explained, Dismal Booster Stats and New Vaccines
On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we clear up some data misconceptions, get to the bottom of the booster uptake issue and talk Novavax.
Public HealthJune 8, 2022
We Need to Improve Indoor Air Quality: Here’s How and Why
Upgrading buildings’ ventilation, filtration and other factors would not only decrease COVID transmission but also improve health and cognitive performance in general
EpidemiologyJune 7, 2022
How to Compare COVID Deaths for Vaccinated and Unvaccinated People
The death rate among unvaccinated people is still far higher than that among the vaccinated even though vaccinated people now make up a significant proportion of deaths
VaccinesMay 31, 2022
‘Where Are Vaccines for Little Kids?’ and the Latest on Long COVID
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between.
You can listen to all past episodes here.
EpidemiologyMay 24, 2022
What We Know about the Rise in Monkeypox Cases Worldwide
It is unclear how some people recently diagnosed with the disease became infected with the monkeypox virus or how it is likely to spread
Public HealthMay 16, 2022
How to Care for COVID at Home, and Is That Sniffle Allergies or the Virus? COVID Quickly, Episode 30
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between.
You can listen to all past episodes here.
ReproductionMay 6, 2022
The Harmful Effects of Overturning Roe v. Wade
A landmark study of women who were turned away from getting the procedure found that being forced to have a child worsened their health and economic status.
EpidemiologyMay 5, 2022
Guns Now Kill More Children and Young Adults Than Car Crashes
Firearms now exceed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of injury-related death for people ages one to 24, an analysis shows
InequalityMay 3, 2022
Overturning Roe v. Wade Could Have Devastating Health and Financial Impacts, Landmark Study Showed
The researcher who led the Turnaway Study explains how being denied an abortion had lasting negative effects on those who were forced to carry their pregnancies to term and on their children
Public HealthMay 2, 2022
Safer Indoor Air, and People Want Masks on Planes and Trains: COVID Quickly, Episode 29
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between.
You can listen to all past episodes here.
Public HealthApril 15, 2022
Venturing Back to the Office and the Benefits of Hybrid Immunity: COVID Quickly, Episode 28
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between.
You can listen to all past episodes here.