Featured Articles
Read our latest stories on the people and scientific innovations making a difference in patients’ lives.
Living & Wellbeing
Eczema vs. Psoriasis: What’s Causing My Itchy Skin?
Getting patches of red and itchy skin that may come and go could have you wondering: Is it eczema or psoriasis, and what’s the difference? Eczema and psoriasis are two distinct skin diseases that may require different treatment plans.1 Although they may be difficult to tell apart, a dermatologist (a doctor who specializes in skin conditions) can spot the differences between these two non-contagious and common skin conditions. That’s why it’s important to speak to your healthcare provider to...
Science & Innovation
Can You Inherit Rheumatoid Arthritis? Genetic vs Hereditary
Inflammation that leads to pain, swelling, stiffness, fatigue, and loss of joint function, are a fact of life for more than one million people in the United States who live with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).1 The chronic autoimmune disease causes the immune system to attack the healthy tissues surrounding the joints; it mainly affects the wrists, hands and knees (and often attacks numerous joints at once).2Is rheumatoid arthritis genetic? In addition to risk factors such as age, sex, smoking and...
Living & Wellbeing
Feeling Sick? Use this Symptom Checker for Common Fall and Winter Illnesses
As the weather cools, viruses have a tendency to spread with more ease. That’s because people tend to spend more time indoors, where germs can circulate from one person to another through the air or close contact. This fall or winter, if you find yourself sniffling and sneezing, or experiencing an upset stomach, you could have a common virus. We’ve created a symptom checker to help you tell the difference between cold and flu symptoms, COVID-19 symptoms and norovirus symptoms. Read on to...
Science & Innovation
Cancer Biomarkers: Paving the Way for Better Lung Cancer Treatment
Receiving a lung cancer diagnosis may inspire a lot of questions: Will my cancer spread? What are the best treatment options for my type of lung cancer? How well do treatments work? There are no one-size-fits-all answers to questions about lung cancer—and that can be a good thing. Scientific advances have led to the practice of “precision medicine” or treatments tailored to patients based on the genes and proteins found in their tumor. In cancer treatment, it involves looking at changes in...
Living & Wellbeing
The Differences Between COVID-19 and the Flu
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the onset of a fever, cough, sore throat, or sniffle may have led to frantic online searches for “Is this COVID-19 or the flu?”Even as the Public Health Emergency for COVID-19 has ended,1 it’s still a good idea to understand the similarities and differences between COVID-19 and influenza (the flu) and how to help protect yourself from getting sick. The information may be especially valuable because as spikes in COVID-19 cases occur, including the...
Science & Innovation
What Makes an RNA Vaccine Different From a Conventional Vaccine?
Vaccines are one of the greatest health interventions ever developed. They’ve been cited as being as important to keeping communities healthy as having access to clean water and safe sanitation.1 Through scientific investment and ingenuity, today we have multiple vaccine technology platforms that have helped us control and, in some cases, eradicate many healthcare challenges such as polio, river blindness, smallpox, and COVID-19, just to name a few. In 2020, messenger RNA, or mRNA for...
Science & Innovation
Zinc Finger Transcription Factors: The On/Off Switch for Genes Inspired by Frogs
Have you ever noticed how effortlessly frogs cling to nearly every surface? Their sticky little fingers easily grab and hold onto just about anything they want. It turns out that the frogs have protein structures that do the same thing, and these structures could be the key to unlocking therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), two of the most debilitating neurological conditions affecting millions of people today. While studying the African clawed...
Science & Innovation
Maternal Immunization: Protecting Children from RSV and GBS
In the first few months of their lives, infants experience new sights, sounds, scents, and textures. During this time, they also make contact with new organisms. It takes up to three months for portions of infants’ still-developing immune systems to mature.1 During these early weeks and months, infants are too young to receive their first vaccines, leaving them vulnerable to developing serious infections.2 Most pregnant people transmit antibodies to their developing fetuses naturally starting...
Science & Innovation
Diabetes Breakthroughs Focus on Making Daily Life Easier
New research and emerging innovations are constantly evolving when it comes to helping patients manage, and maybe even prevent, Type 2 diabetes. The days of tender fingertips and painful injections may not be over, but alternatives are becoming more and more commonplace. Diabetes affects over 37 million people in the United States, slightly more than 11% of the population.1 Type 2 diabetes accounts for more than 95% of all diabetes.2 Game-changing breakthroughs, such as continuous glucose...
Science & Innovation
How to Manage High Blood Pressure (With the Help of a Few Giraffes)
People have long adored giraffes for their friendly faces, their tall and somewhat strange stature and, of course, those impossibly long necks. Now, researchers believe that giraffes may also offer physiological insights into certain health conditions. With a neck that can be longer than six feet, giraffes seemingly should struggle with the consequences of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, because of their blood's substantial uphill climb from the heart to the brain. But...
Living & Wellbeing
6 Mosquito Diseases That Can Be Deadly
Mosquitoes won’t just ruin a cookout or leave angry red welts on your skin after a blood meal; the little buzzers might also transmit serious diseases. Mosquitoes are "silent" feeders; their siphon-like mouthparts can quickly pierce human skin and feed on blood without causing any notice, says Patrick Kelly PhD, director of Global Epidemiology for Tick Borne Diseases for Pfizer. He calls it “highly efficient feeding that has been fine-tuned over millions of years.” Mosquitos have taken...
Living & Wellbeing
Skipped Childhood Immunizations Could Lead to Resurgence of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Childhood vaccination rates dropped drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it could potentially mean a resurgence of diseases we've long had under control. Approximately 66% of children aged 5 months in the United States were up to date for all CDC-recommended childhood vaccines in 2016-2019. By May 2020, that number declined to 49.7%. 1 A major driver of the downturn in vaccinations was canceled or skipped well-child visits. Shortly after the United States declared a national state...
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