Justin D’Souza                                                                                         250 Words       INTD 105 Science Writing

A good public facing piece of science writing must convey many facets of a topic, such as its significance to the reader, data, and summarize rigorous studies into layman’s terms. The article “Malaria drug causes brain damage that mimics PTSD: case study” by Patricia Kime does a good job of fulfilling these requirements. The article gives insight into a serious issue, that a drug “mefloquine,” used by the US Army to help Malaria victims, may in fact lead to symptoms normally characteristic to PTSD, such as rage, anxiety, and other cognitive issues. The article effectively establishes the significance of this by giving an anecdote about a soldier who was unable to take care of his family due to the side effects, allowing readers to grasp that this drug issue is a problem.

The article also does a good job of summarizing studies looking at this drug. The author recognizes that the case study that produced the example of the solider and his family was one “snapshot” and not everyone might experience the same results. But they analyze more in depth studies and reveal that such problems with the drug have been noted before. This allows the reader to understand that this issue is not a fluke but something more serious and real.

The article did not use much technical language and instead relied on easy to understand numbers and timelines of events to convey information, allowing it to educate a broader audience on the issue.

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/08/11/malaria-drug-causes-permanent-brain-damage-case-study/88528568/