Dementia Symptoms With a UTI Seems Odd? — It's Not Unusual at All

Urinary tract infections may have strange side effects.

Photo by Ozan Safak on Unsplash

Recently I noticed my cousin did not remember a conversation we had yesterday.

Another time he was relating a discussion he had with his daughter an hour before and couldn't recall many details. I asked him to explain further, and he said he didn't know and that it was confusing and to ask her.

I paid attention for the next couple of days. We are close and see one another daily, so it was convenient for me to check in to see how Bob was doing, although he didn't know I was concerned.

His cognitive difficulties continued, and I wondered if this might be the start of dementia.

I discussed this with a friend, a nurse practitioner at the local Mayo Clinic. She suggested we check for a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). I was incredulous. What could a UTI possibly have to do with cognitive issues?

Absolutely everything, I found out.

And, yes, Bob does indeed have a UTI. It is easy to do an at-home test to determine this. The tests are available at your local drugstore or on Amazon.

He is in his 70s and has no other symptoms besides his confusion.

I explored this further and discovered some interesting data.

According to Pathways, an online website:

Even if your loved one hasn’t officially been diagnosed with dementia, you may notice that dementia-like symptoms, such as confusion, come on fairly quickly. Often this can be traced to the development of a UTI.

In addition, the Alzheimer's Society states:

UTIs can cause sudden confusion (also known as delirium) in older people and people and people with dementia. If the person has a sudden and unexplained change in their behavior, such as increased confusion, agitation, or withdrawal, this may be because of a UTI.

Fortunately, treatment for a UTI is straightforward — antibiotics will be given, and the infection and the symptoms will usually be cleared up.

Bob is now on an antibiotic course, and hopefully, he will be his old self again.

Please be aware that the usual symptoms younger people exhibit with urinary tract infections, such as burning when urinating, are often not present in our senior population.

Confusion and forgetfulness are more common in the older group, so be on the lookout for these in your elderly loved ones.