Why a healthy breath is a piece of engineering we don't appreciate
Breath is a unique physiological function that allows for both involuntary and voluntary control. In intensive care, the importance of breath becomes evident when it fails, leading to critical conditions that require mechanical ventilation. While ventilators can save lives, they also pose risks of lung injury and complications for the patient.
- ▪Breath is both an involuntary and voluntary process, allowing individuals to consciously control their breathing.
- ▪In intensive care, the failure of breath can lead to severe health issues requiring mechanical ventilation.
- ▪Ventilators can provide life-saving support but may also cause ventilator-induced lung injury and muscle atrophy.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
There is a sentence I have carried with me for years. Not from a philosopher. Not from a book. It came out of something I kept noticing as a doctor, and after a while I stopped trying to phrase it better. It breathes, I breathe. Four words. I keep coming back to them. Two sides The body does most things without us. The heart beats. The kidneys filter. The liver detoxifies. Cells divide. None of that asks for our permission, and we couldn't grant it if it did. Breath is different. It happens on its own. It draws air in while you sleep, adjusts when you run, slows when you sit down. Nobody told it to. And yet you can also take it over. Right now, if you want. Breathe in deeply. Hold the air. Breathe out slowly. Speak a sentence. Whistle. Sigh. Nothing else in the body lets you do that.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at shii·haa.
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