National Senior UTI Awareness Day

Many women experience a UTI in their lifetime.  Some men do as well but it’s a larger percentage of women overall.

Once you hit the age of 65% it is reported that 10% of women get a UTI.  After the age of 85 it increases to 30%.

Estrogen found in women is a great fighter of bacteria.  Like other things your estrogen decreases with age allowing more infections to take hold.

Common symptoms are going to the bathroom more frequently, pain when you go, pain or tenderness in your pelvis, lower back or abdomen.  

You might even get a fever, have some nausea and feel super tired.  Some people get confused as well.

When you are older these symptoms don’t always appear clearly.  Cognitively you may have changed so you don’t notice them.  

You may also have incontinence or be confused in many ways normally.  This makes diagnosis tricky.

If you suspect a possible UTI  the next step would be a urinary sample to confirm or rule it out.

The good news is that if you do get a UTI there are good medications that your doctor can prescribe.  

You might also be able to get well from cranberry juice and hydration. 

Private Home Health Care feels that it’s important to raise awareness about UTIs because they are so common.  

If left untreated it can become very serious so it’s important to check with a health care professional with any suspicions.