Healthy Living for the Soul

EASY TIPS FOR UTI PREVENTION

IN OLDER ADULTS

by Adrienne Freeland

Have you ever felt the uncomfortable burning sensation and constant urge to urinate that come along with a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)? If not, consider yourself fortunate, because many Americans will get a UTI in their lifetime. When you’re young, a UTI seems like nothing more than an irritation, but as you age the symptoms and severity of an infection increase.

Let’s begin with a better understanding of the anatomy that is affected by a UTI. The Urinary Tract is a term that refers to all of the organs that participate in expelling urine from your body. Specifically, the kidneys, ureter, bladder, and urethra. When foreign bacteria is introduced infection can easily begin and spread within the system and can lead to serious issues. Untreated UTIs often become bladder or kidney infections which pose a much higher. risk to patients. Because the urinary tract in women is shorter and more open to foreign bacteria, it is easy to see how women are more likely to develop UTIs than men.

The most common UTI symptoms are the urge to urinate, burning sensation during urination, frequent urination, cloudy, red, or strongsmelling urine, and pelvic pain (in women). Unfortunately, seniors may be susceptible to all of these symptoms as well as more severe reactions. Older patients with UTIs can display a variety of other symptoms, some of the most alarming include restlessness, hallucination, social withdrawal, agitation, and confusion.

To prevent UTIs in seniors you must first understand why they occur. They may occur for all the same reasons young people experience them. But the more frequent culprit among patients of this demographic is the inability to fully empty their bladders. When urine sits in the bladder for too long it can develop bacteria that then spreads through the urinary tract, causing an infection.