In order to understand why the coronavirus might cause elevated respiratory rate, it’s important to understand the pathology of the infection.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is a new disease, but in most moderate to severe cases it presents as a lower-respiratory tract infection, similar to bronchitis and some strains of the flu. Lower respiratory tract infections differ from the more common upper respiratory tract infections in the part of the respiratory tract that they impact. Upper respiratory tract infections, which include most strains of the common cold, tonsillitis, and sinus infections, are primarily characterized by symptoms above the collar–runny nose, headache, sore throats. Lower respiratory tract infections take root below the larynx and therefore are more commonly associated with coughing, fatigue, and shortness of breath.

In a viral lower respiratory tract infection such as COVID-19, the virus enters the body through the nose, mouth, or eyes and travels down the respiratory tract in search of a host cell. Viruses cannot reproduce on their own and therefore need a host to “hijack,” overriding the cell’s normal function with a new command: Reproduce the virus. Once the cell is full of new virus, the cell will burst and the newly formed virus will then set out in search of even more host cells.

During the early stages of infection, often called “incubation,” there are enough healthy (not yet hijacked and destroyed) cells to compensate for their fallen neighbors, but as the number of virus organisms in the body grows, the rate at which damage is being done also grows, the healthy cells can eventually no longer cover for the burst ones, and organ function is impacted. This impact is experienced as “symptoms.”

Symptoms vary depending on the function of the cells that were damaged; in COVID-19, the virus infects the alveoli. Alveoli are the blood/lungs interface at which oxygen passes from the lungs to the blood and carbon dioxide passes from the blood to the lungs. Without functioning alveoli, each respiration does not remove as much carbon dioxide from the blood or provide as much oxygen to the blood as it used to. To make up for the loss of efficiency per breath, the body is forced to undergo more respirations to provide the same oxygen supply.

NORMAL RESPIRATORY RATE FLUCTUATION & WHY WE MEASURE IT DURING SLEEP

In a healthy individual, it is normal for daily respiratory rate to fluctuate based on what we are doing and therefore what our acute need is for oxygen. Exercising is a great example–we breathe harder and faster when running than when standing still because while running our need for energy, and therefore oxygen, is higher.

Because variation within a day is more dramatically varied by activity level than it is by acute changes in efficiency, measuring respiratory rate throughout the day provides less insight into efficiency than does measuring respiratory rate during sleep. Since our need for oxygen is roughly constant from night to night (assuming the oxygen quality of the air is the same), you would expect respiratory rate to be the same. Therefore, when – as in the case study provided above – we see a sudden increase in sleeping respiratory rate, it is reasonable to consider changes to respiratory efficiency rather than energy need.

HIGH RESPIRATORY RATE IS LESS COMMON WITH OTHER ILLNESSES

If you are in the US like I am, in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic it’s also still flu season, and for some of us, it’s almost allergy season. This means that there could be non-COVID-19 explanations for our coughs, fatigue or general less-than optimal feelings of wellbeing. Since most strains of the flu and most allergies primarily impact the tissues of the upper respiratory tract, elevated respiratory rate is a less common symptom; this means that if you are feeling crummy, knowing if your respiratory rate is elevated above your personal baseline may help provide useful information to help get an accurate diagnosis as quickly as possible.

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Notice: Healy Watch is intended to support vitality and well-being, and is not a substitute for medical advice, which can only be provided by a medical professional. The physiological measurements displayed on Healy Watch and in the Healy Watch App are designed to help you develop healthier habits and meet your fitness and wellness goals, to guide you in using the programs available in your Healy, and to alert you to information that may make a consultation with a healthcare provider appropriate. The Healy Individualized Microcurrent Frequency programs are intended solely for harmonization of the Bioenergetic Field. No claims are made that Healy Watch or Healy Watch App readings are diagnostic of the presence or absence of any medical conditions.