Breathe In, Breathe Out, Repeat

When we think about our basic physiological needs, food, water, shelter and clothing come to mind. Yet, oxygen is perhaps the most crucial element for survival. The brain uses about 20% of the body’s oxygen supply, which allows it to perform both conscious and autonomic processes. Without oxygen, brain damage occurs after three to six minutes of anoxia. Since breathing takes little to no effort for most of us, we often neglect to consider how it affects our daily lives.

Listen to pediatric experts discuss breathing-related pediatric challenges

Breathing is crucial for day-to-day life, and breathing issues are the most common problem that children face. As part of our Women in Medicine series, Robin Deterding, MD, joins us to discuss the importance of breathing and the scale at which children are impacted by breathing challenges, such as asthma.

Dr. Deterding is an internationally known pediatric pulmonologist, an executive leader of one of the largest academic and clinical pediatric pulmonary practices for children in the country and a serial entrepreneur committed to improved care models for patients. She is also a tenured professor of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children's Hospital Colorado.

In this episode, our experts discuss:

• Innovation at The Breathing Institute
• Nuances with measuring lung function and pulse oximeter accuracy by skin color
• The impact of chronic conditions on mechanical lung function
• When pediatricians should refer to a pulmonary specialist
• The impact of the pandemic on children’s breathing
• Stress, anxiety and sleep

Pulmonary medicine at Children’s Colorado

The Breathing Institute experts at Children's Colorado treat children with common and complex breathing problems. Our pediatric pulmonologists care for children with shortness of breath, wheezing, cough, noisy breathing, oxygen dependency, recurrent pneumonia and other pediatric breathing conditions.