A: There is good scientific consensus that GMO foods are safe and pose no threat to human health. The AAP’s recent report on GMOs was useful in some ways but presented a misleading, alarmist view of the risks posed by the weedkiller glyphosate, a view that conflicts with multiple health agencies. In December, the American Read more…
The COVID pandemic taught us many things about the state of our health and our public health system, and these lessons should be top of mind today. During these last two weeks of March, Those Nerdy Girls is honoring our fourth anniversary by reminiscing about where we started, at the height of the COVID pandemic Read more…
A: If you can stay home for a few days when you are sick, you should. If you test positive for COVID, isolating until you test negative is safest. If you can’t, wear a high quality mask and do your best to minimize your exposure to others. The US CDC recently updated their guidance to Read more…
Osteoporosis is a condition of reduced bone density that increases risk of fracture. Women over age 65 and those over age 50 with additional risk factors should be screened with a DEXA scan. Repeat screening intervals depend on the baseline bone density and can range from 1 to 15 years between tests. What is osteoporosis? Read more…
March 2020 feels like both a million years ago and the blink of an eye. We Nerdy Girls thought we might be answering questions on here for a few weeks at the most. Despite all the stress, grief, and pain of the last four years, we are SO grateful for the chance to work with Read more…
Four years ago on this day (3/16/2020), my kids, like so many of yours, were starting on what we thought at the time was going to be a 1-month stint of virtual school and my local community Facebook pages were ABUZZ with questions. How can we safely form a bubble with neighbors or grandparents? Can Read more…
Those Nerdy Girls talk long COVID (PASC) with immunologist Dr. Liz Marnik. Hosted by: – Liz Marnik, PhD: Assistant Professor & Science Communicator (@sciencewhizliz) – Chana Davis, PhD: TNG Contributing Writer & Founder of Fueled by Science ➡️ Welcome & Intros (0:00-1:29) ➡️ What is long COVID? How is long COVID or PCC/PASC defined and Read more…
Data voids occur when there isn’t enough high-quality information to counter misleading information on a topic. Data voids are common in the context of breaking news and can lead people to believe the misinformation when they do an online search. Who hasn’t done their own searching online to find out more about the latest health Read more…
We find it almost impossible to believe that it’s been 4 years since Those Nerdy Girls was born as Dear Pandemic on March 13, 2020. We’ll be celebrating for the next two weeks and encourage you to join us! How can you celebrate Those Nerdy Girls on our 4th Nerdyversary? 🤓 Sign up for our Read more…
Nerdy Girl Dr. Jenn Dowd answers your COVID question. ➡️ A lot of people who could be benefiting from vaccines and treatment but are not. The good news is that COVID mortality is much lower than it has been in previous winters. The bad news is that this winter, close to 2000 Americans per week Read more…
“Hey Barbie, I do think about dying, glad you do too. Let’s talk about it!” It’s never too early or too late to talk about dying, and no, you are not morbid for starting this discussion. Death and dying can be a difficult topic to talk about, but discussing what should happen in the event Read more…
People over 65 in the US are now eligible for an additional COVID-19 vaccine. If you didn’t get a vaccine this fall, have chronic health conditions, or have important spring and summer events planned, you should get a dose now. Following a review of vaccine data by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Read more…
Researchers use statistical significance to flag potentially interesting findings that aren’t easily explained by chance. However, this measure is only part of the story – it does not tell us how much a finding matters in the real world (practical or clinical significance). Read on for a closer look at what statistical significance can and Read more…
Tl;dr: Negative bias is a type of cognitive bias where we tend to have a stronger response to negative stimuli and information than positive information of equal magnitude. We feel negative events more intensely and may dwell on them to our detriment. Negativity bias impacts how we consume the news, engage in relationships with other Read more…
We wanted to let you know about an exciting new program in the US that provides free testing and treatment for COVID and the flu – at home! It’s called the Home Test to Treat program and is worth looking into BEFORE you get sick, because time is of the essence for testing and treatment. Read more…
For children and adults who do not respond to relaxation or distraction, application of light touch, cold, or vibration near an injection site can override the body’s pain center, making shots feel less painful. As anyone who’s held down a screaming toddler during their immunizations knows, they don’t like shots. Toddlers don’t like a lot Read more…
We get it! Here is a question we received from a reader: “How do we navigate conversations about difficult topics with loved ones? The simple answer is that we all struggle with difficult conversations AND there are simple strategies we can use to help us keep our cool and focus on what matters during these Read more…
Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy, MD is a triple board certified Adult, Child and Adolescent and Forensic Psychiatrist, keynote speaker, educator, community organizer and public health expert based in Texas. Barbara’s expertise advances child, family and community mental health equity and justice. Her work has appeared on NPR, CNN, Psychology Today, Telemundo, San Antonio Express News, among others, Read more…
No. In the US, we likely undercounted COVID deaths. A common refrain during the pandemic was that people were dying “with” rather than “of” COVID. The implication was that our official statistics were wrong and we were overstating the true danger of the pandemic. As we wrote about way back in 2020, data nerds like Read more…
Are you hearing about cases of whooping cough (i.e., pertussis) in your community? We are, too. In fact, there are cases in all three of this Nerdy Girl’s kids’ schools right now (ack!). This is a great time to make sure you and your family are up-to-date on this vaccine. 🟣 What is whooping cough? Read more…
