Ripple Effects

In science, one small discovery can lead to another, and then another, and another — until eventually, there’s a breakthrough. But once that breakthrough happens, it’s easy to forget about all the small steps that brought us there. The same can also be true when it comes to flawed guidelines or scientific studies that turn out to be wrong. One mistake can set off a chain reaction with negative consequences.

On this episode, we trace the ripple effects of both breakthroughs and public health disasters — understanding the long-term consequences of decisions and events. We hear about how an effort to prevent peanut allergies led to their explosion, how seemingly inconsequential research changed the lives of millions of people down the road, and how trauma gets passed down through the generations.

ALSO HEARD:

• We talk with surgeon and public policy researcher Marty Makary about past examples of medical advice that backfired, from prohibitions on peanuts to warnings against eggs, and the far-reaching effects on public health. Makary’s new book is “Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong and What It Means for Our Health.” He was recently tapped by the Trump Administration to run the U.S Food and Drug Administration.
• In this excerpt from the podcast series “Silence in Sikeston,” reporter and host Cara Anthony explores the reverberations of two tragedies in Sikeston, Missouri — the 1942 lynching of a Black man and the police shooting of a young father almost 80 years later — and the generational trauma each sparked.
• Psychiatrist Rachel Yehuda explains what she learned about intergenerational trauma, and how it’s passed down, through her study of Holocaust survivors. Yehuda is a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience, and the director of the Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.