You’ve probably been warned that if you don’t finish that course of antibiotics, you could wind up battling antibiotic-resistant bacteria. But a growing body of research suggests that the opposite might be true. What does this mean for you and your next sinus infection? Flora talks with antimicrobial resistance expert Amy Mathers to find out.

Plus, the driver of fibromyalgia, a condition that can cause debilitating chronic pain and brain fog, has been something of a mystery. Patients’ imaging and blood work often turn up normal, and many have felt dismissed by doctors.

A recent large-scale study identified a group of genes associated with the disease, a breakthrough that may help doctors understand people’s risk of developing the condition and reveal something about the nature of this mysterious illness. Flora talks with Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong, one of the study’s lead authors.

Guests:

Dr. Amy Mathers is medical director of antimicrobial stewardship and an associate professor of medicine and pathology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

Dr. Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong is an assistant professor of computational biology and public health at Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Washington state.

Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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Is a shorter course of antibiotics OK? + Genetic risk of fibromyalgia

Science Friday

Is a shorter course of antibiotics OK? + Genetic risk of fibromyalgia