{"id":29378,"date":"2023-08-01T14:34:25","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T20:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=29378"},"modified":"2023-09-28T16:10:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T22:10:47","slug":"heart-murmurs-in-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/","title":{"rendered":"What parents should know about heart murmurs in children"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"A
Innocent heart murmurs are a normal finding in many children. Photo by Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While learning your child has a heart murmur may be concerning, in most cases, it\u2019s not a sign of a problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere can be a lot of confusion around heart murmurs in children, and they\u2019re so, so common,\u201d said Dr. Michael Di Maria, a pediatric cardiologist with Children\u2019s Hospital Colorado<\/a> who cares for patients at UCHealth Pediatric Heart and Vascular Clinic in Steamboat Springs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Below, Di Maria explains what you need to know about heart murmurs in kids.<\/p>\n

What is a heart murmur?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A heart murmur is an extra sound that\u2019s heard when the heart is beating.<\/p>\n

The typical \u2018lub-dub\u2019 sound of a heartbeat is made when the heart\u2019s inflow valves open, then the outflow valves close. If an extra whooshing sound of blood moving is also heard, there\u2019s a heart murmur.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some cases, the extra sound is caused by an abnormality in the heart\u2019s structure,\u201d Di Maria said. \u201cBut most of the time, the heart is structurally normal, and the doctor is simply hearing the blood moving around the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that latter case, the sound is known as an \u2018innocent murmur.\u2019<\/p>\n

How is a heart murmur detected?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A doctor can hear a heart murmur while listening to your child\u2019s heart with a stethoscope. A murmur may be noticed during a routine office visit, even if it hasn\u2019t been heard before.<\/p>\n

Often, a child with a heart murmur will be referred to a pediatric cardiologist for further evaluation.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the time, I can put my stethoscope on the child\u2019s chest and I can say, \u2018This is one of those innocent murmurs,\u2019\u201d Di Maria said. \u201cBut if I can\u2019t be sure, or if I listen and think it\u2019s not normal, it\u2019s the easiest thing in the world to pop into the next room, put on a movie and let the patient hang out while they get an echocardiogram, which is a fancy name for an ultrasound of the heart. That\u2019s the definitive test.\u201d<\/p>\n

How common are innocent murmurs?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While innocent murmurs can be heard at any age, they are especially common in younger children. Up to 75 percent of three- to five-year-olds have an innocent heart murmur.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see a lot of kids in preschool and kindergarten for murmur evaluations, and the vast majority are fine,\u201d Di Maria said.<\/p>\n

What if there is a problem?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Congenital heart disease, an abnormality in the way the heart develops before birth, is the most common birth defect, affecting about 1% of babies.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s good news: most issues can be successfully treated.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if something is amiss, most heart conditions in kids are very treatable,\u201d Di Maria said.<\/p>\n

What are signs of a heart issue?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cThe big red flags for children of any age are symptoms such as chest pain, getting dizzy, passing out or turning blue \u2013 especially if the symptoms occur with exercise,\u201d Di Maria said. \u201cIf that happens, stop whatever you\u2019re doing, don\u2019t exert yourself and get an evaluation as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do innocent murmurs go away?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Yes. That may simply be the result of the child growing bigger.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really common thing to hear, \u2018I had a murmur, but I grew out of it,\u2019\u201d Di Maria said. \u201cWhen kids are small, there\u2019s a small amount of tissue between the stethoscope and heart. As an adult, that very soft sound of an innocent murmur becomes dampened by muscle and bone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Should I worry if my child has an innocent murmur?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

No. Remember that an innocent heart murmur doesn\u2019t affect a child\u2019s activity or life in any way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big take-home message about innocent murmurs is nothing is wrong, you don\u2019t have to worry, you don\u2019t have to screen other family members,\u201d Di Maria said. \u201cIt really is a normal finding.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, check out the American Heart Association\u2019s webpage<\/a>\u00a0on heart murmurs in kids<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While learning your child has a heart murmur may be concerning, in most cases, it\u2019s not a sign of a problem. \u201cThere can be a lot of confusion around heart murmurs in children, and they\u2019re so, so common,\u201d said Dr. Michael Di Maria, a pediatric cardiologist with Children\u2019s Hospital Colorado who cares for patients at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2163,"featured_media":29380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[84,3512,82,128,202,9187],"class_list":["post-29378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-living","tag-cardiology","tag-heart-and-vascular-care-cardiovascular","tag-heart-and-vascular-care-cardiology","tag-heart-health","tag-pediatric-care","tag-readysetco"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat parents should know about heart murmurs in children - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There can be a lot of confusion around heart murmurs in children. Get the facts from a pediatric cardiologist.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What parents should know about heart murmurs in children\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There can be a lot of confusion around heart murmurs in children. Get the facts from a pediatric cardiologist.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-01T20:34:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-28T22:10:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/25142821\/GettyImages-1138269305-for-web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270\"},\"headline\":\"What parents should know about heart murmurs in children\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-01T20:34:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-28T22:10:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/\"},\"wordCount\":690,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/25142821\/GettyImages-1138269305-for-web.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Cardiology\",\"Heart and vascular care\",\"Heart care\",\"Heart health\",\"Pediatrics care\",\"Ready. Set. CO\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Healthy living\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/\",\"name\":\"What parents should know about heart murmurs in children - UCHealth Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/25142821\/GettyImages-1138269305-for-web.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-01T20:34:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-28T22:10:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"There can be a lot of confusion around heart murmurs in children. Get the facts from a pediatric cardiologist.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/25142821\/GettyImages-1138269305-for-web.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/25142821\/GettyImages-1138269305-for-web.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Innocent heart murmurs are a normal finding in many children. Photo by Getty Images.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What parents should know about heart murmurs in children\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/\",\"name\":\"UCHealth Today\",\"description\":\"UCHealth Today\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UCHealth\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"UCHealth\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/uchealth\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uchealth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/14839\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/uchealthorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270\",\"name\":\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\"},\"description\":\"Susan Cunningham lives in the Colorado Rocky Mountains with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys science nearly as much as writing: she\u2019s traveled to the bottom of the ocean via submarine to observe life at hydrothermal vents, camped out on an island of birds to study tern behavior, and now spends time in an office writing and analyzing data. She blogs about writing and science at susancunninghambooks.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/scunningham\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What parents should know about heart murmurs in children - UCHealth Today","description":"There can be a lot of confusion around heart murmurs in children. Get the facts from a pediatric cardiologist.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What parents should know about heart murmurs in children","og_description":"There can be a lot of confusion around heart murmurs in children. Get the facts from a pediatric cardiologist.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/","og_site_name":"UCHealth Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","article_published_time":"2023-08-01T20:34:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-28T22:10:47+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/25142821\/GettyImages-1138269305-for-web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@uchealth","twitter_site":"@uchealth","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/"},"author":{"name":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270"},"headline":"What parents should know about heart murmurs in children","datePublished":"2023-08-01T20:34:25+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-28T22:10:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/"},"wordCount":690,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/25142821\/GettyImages-1138269305-for-web.webp","keywords":["Cardiology","Heart and vascular care","Heart care","Heart health","Pediatrics care","Ready. Set. CO"],"articleSection":["Healthy living"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/","name":"What parents should know about heart murmurs in children - UCHealth Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/25142821\/GettyImages-1138269305-for-web.webp","datePublished":"2023-08-01T20:34:25+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-28T22:10:47+00:00","description":"There can be a lot of confusion around heart murmurs in children. Get the facts from a pediatric cardiologist.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/25142821\/GettyImages-1138269305-for-web.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/25142821\/GettyImages-1138269305-for-web.webp","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Innocent heart murmurs are a normal finding in many children. Photo by Getty Images."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/heart-murmurs-in-children\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What parents should know about heart murmurs in children"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","name":"UCHealth Today","description":"UCHealth Today","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization","name":"UCHealth","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"UCHealth"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/x.com\/uchealth","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uchealth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/14839\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270","name":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth"},"description":"Susan Cunningham lives in the Colorado Rocky Mountains with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys science nearly as much as writing: she\u2019s traveled to the bottom of the ocean via submarine to observe life at hydrothermal vents, camped out on an island of birds to study tern behavior, and now spends time in an office writing and analyzing data. She blogs about writing and science at susancunninghambooks.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/scunningham\/"}]}},"coauthors":[{"id":2163,"name":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/scunningham\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29378"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71976,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29378\/revisions\/71976"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}