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Not necessarily. It would take more than a cold to kill someone. Flu can be fatal if the heart / lungs are already weak. A UTI that is not properly treated can kill. In advanced Alzheimer's the patient cannot tell you what their symptoms are, you have to guess. Once they are non-verbal they are very hard to treat.
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Things like a cold or fever or UTI can make the dementia symptoms appear much worse. Sometimes they stay worse, that is, the dementia itself progresses. Sometimes the patient returns to or close to the former baseline when the acute illness is over. This can take months.

On two different instances, I had visiting physical therapists tell me to expect my husband to remain at his new worse condition. Both times he recovered to his former baseline, but it took several months and by then the therapists weren't visiting anymore so they never learned that their predictions were not correct.
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I'm a registered nurse and have worked in a geriatric/psychiatric facility. Often we would get elderly demented patients from a nursing home that were admitted with "change of mental status". This patient 9/10 had an underlying urinary tract infection which can significantly alter a patients mental reserve. They would at times become so aggressive and assaulting the nursing home did not have staff to handle the patients and they were transferred to us. (We didn't have the resources either, but the for-profit hospital would admit every Medicare patient possible because somehow the hospital profited. Elderly are so frail I believe even the slightest imbalance can alter there status. Hopefully temporary. Please keep in mind that in ( PA) and I don't know what other states that if a nursing home patient with a "do not recessitate" (DNR) gets transferred you must get that re-established at the hospital they are transferred to because "change of mental status". I always thought how horrible it would be if a patient was recessitated after being transferred. I know I must have seemed cold but when interviewing the patients family's ( sometimes just the demented patient would show with no history) I would often quickly ask about DNR status to get it really-established ASAP. One patient transferred, admitted, coded and recessitated and sent to ICU. I think that person was in late 80's or 90's.
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Thanks for sharing your experience, Martinamarie. I didn't know that about DNR.
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Any infection or illness that stresses the body can make set in motion a worsening of Alzheimer's. Flu, pneumonia, untreated UtIs, falls - they all stress the body, so when these people who are already so challenged get sick, they may improve as far as the illness goes but their cognitive ability can decline. Hospital visits are especially bad, so if the person is in a nursing home most illnesses are treated by the staff there rather than hospitalize the person.

Naturally, there are people who come out of these illnesses with no change, but the possibility is always there, especially if they are close to changing stages anyway.

Take care,
carol
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Hello Spanskym, The short answer to your question is 'Yes". Of course it's never short or simple. Most of the other previous answers are correct. The illness itself can cause temporary worsening of the Alzheimer's symptoms. The illness itself (esp.UTIs) can in and of themselves cause Alzheimer's like symptoms in eldery, even if they have up till not not exhibited them. With the UTIs often they go back to baseline after it's resolved. BUT for folks who have Alzheimer's it is common that ANY illness will, not just increase current dementia symptoms, but actually move them rather suddenly into more advanced stages of Alzheimer's. And it's not just an illness that can push them suddenly into the next stage permanently. Any event, accident, or change in their life can do it. Examples are falls (even without injury), moving their home, loss of another person, even changes in their routine, or events like losing their driver's license, almost any change, not just big ones.
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All elderly are susceptible to cognitive changes do to infections. It depends on the degree of infection and the physical condition the person is in to begin with. The typical are UTI's, but even sinus or bronchial infections can bring on extra confusion. My dad is on antibiotic continuously to fend off various infections. He started to get a sinus infection this summer resulting from a summer cold, and the confusion started to progress with it immediately, doctor had to do a smack down of that infection by hitting it with extra antibiotic. Some people also carry genes where their immune system is more effected by infection to begin with. We'll see more of that in the future as most of the kids now are being tested at birth for various illness and genetically effected disease.
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Also like to add, changing an elderly persons environment when they are sick as in a UTI, bad cold, virus, etc... can also bring on dementia type confusion. Even just being in a weekend state and recovering from an illness and then changing the environment around them, even to a different room can cause great confusion.
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We moved recently to a first floor apartment from a second floor. My husband went to the ER the weekend we moved in with confusion and violence. He fell in the ER and put a gash in his forehead and a black and blue eye. So I guess those alone would be the cause for his Alzheimer's to advance so much worse. He is now in a Gerry-Psych Hospital for help with his confusion and behavior issues. I don't know what to expect when he is ready for release. I hope to bring him home and get him back to his baesline like he did two years ago after a long stay in the Hospital and Nursing Home. He was good for about two years until the move. That pushed him over the edge. I pray he will come back. Bonnie O.
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As with anyone, any of those illnesses will lower the immune system, however it depends on how soon your loved one with dementia can recover. It is not a death sentence, the dementia is...stop worrying about something out of your control. No one can prevent a virus. Get your flu and pneumonia vaccines!
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My father had lewybody dementia, ITI's were common for him. As he progressed he would occasionally get pneumonia, and then that became the norm also. These conditions did change his cognitive abilities slightly. But the biggest hit was on his body, the getting sick and spending time in the hospital and back and forth from nursing home to hospital again took a toll on his body. We were dealing with a nursing home that was under staffed and neglectful. My father was constantly dehydrated, and kept getting sick more often. This last time if we wouldn't have insisted he go to the hospital he would have died very soon. He was in the hospital for 9 days this last time and lost his battle this time. Thanks to my mothers undying love and devotion to my father he lived several years longer than anyone thought. She was there almost everyday to try to make sure things were done the right way. I am not trying to change the subject but this whole experience taught me to have an advocate for your care! If you are not able try to appoint someone to keep an eye on things. After this experience my daughter has made a promise to me that she will never put me in a nursing home. Thank God.
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I believe that it will emphasize the cognitive decline but not necessarily cause worsening or speed up the disease. Any time there is an illness that physically taxes your system, your body will "spread out the troops" as it tries to battle the new
problem. When it controls the new "invader (flu, cold)" it returns to normal duty.
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The original poster needs to read some official reasearch, and also ask the most closely involved medical professional, if they want to rely on the answers they receive. As a registered nurse, with both professional experience and personal experience with three family members, and annecdotal experience from several close friends who spent years as caregivers to Alzheimer's petients, and also aving taken three several nursing courses focusing on Alzheimer's disease progression and current care recommendations, the knowledge I took from all that is that "sudden, permanent progression to more advanced stages" is definitelyboth possible and common.
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It takes a lot to recover from a UTI, cold, flu or even something as simple as getting a tooth filled.
UTI's can wreck havoc on a person, personality change is the first thing I notice.
All these things can cause a bit of a decline. And they do not recover as well nor as fast. You may not notice much of a decline or you may notice a drastic change. He/she may recover some or all. It depends on the person. Each person is different and will react differently each time.
Keep up to date with your vaccinations and keep them up to date with theirs. Make sure people coming in to the house that have close contact are all up to date as well.
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I am sorry for anyone having to care or be witness to aging/deteriorating elderly parents. I have been a registered nurse for 28 years. I know it's hard, but bed sores, falls and malnutrition happen in long term care facilities. We are not all negligent. I have worked with some lazier healthcare professionals, but the majority try to do the best we can. Not that this matters to the child of the parent with the bedsore, and I'm not making excuses, it's just unfortunately a reality we do not have enough staff to properly care for our elderly generation. Our hospital was a for-profit and it did not matter the level of care a patient needed it was a ratio of 1 nurse and nurse aid for 10 patients. It didn't matter if we had ten 250 pound plus incontinent assaultive patients. I would be changing a patients diaper and hear call bells and other patients screaming "nurse I need help". I brought concerns to my manager with her response " be glad you don't have 11 patients". We unfortunately don't have enough staff to constantly keep people clean if they are constantly soiling themselves. Yes, there are some that walk around a patient on the floor, look for the nurse who is cleaning up diarrhea and say "there is a patient that needs you". I would have a gown on cleaning feces and could not run out and take care of another. I hate that this is todays healthcare system and I'm embarrassed to tell people I'm a nurse. We also don't get trained in lifting heavy patients without help. Our bodies are beaten down with herniated discs etc. I'm sorry.
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Martinamarie...Since I have been caring for my husband I shudder every time I see one of the commercials come on the TV for some lawyer that says..if your loved one in a nursing home has had bedsores, fallen or suffered an injury that is abuse or neglect...it makes me ill. I have come to the conclusion that some of these things can not be prevented. In a facility restraining is not legal and people will get up and fall, people that are bed or chair bound will more than likely get a pressure sore at some point. How it is treated and how severe it is is the difference.
I have great respect for the people working in a facility. IF they are doing their jobs. I have seen some nurses that will refuse to do what you have described because that is "a job for a CNA" not a nurse.
CNA's , caregivers are underpaid and overworked. Nurses are stretched thin and in many facilities overworked.
Where I am Assisted Living facilities can no longer use equipment to transfer a person. So at least 2 people are needed to transfer a person from a bed to a chair. If equipment has to be used the patient is placed in a nursing home.
Be proud that you are a nurse.
I have a Hospice nurse that visits my husband weekly and I admire and respect what she does. It can not be an easy job.
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Those ambulance-chasing commercials on tv that urge you to contact them and sue the h3ll out of a nursing home in case of a fall or whatever? First of all, it's quite difficult to prove a lot of things. Second of all, if you 'win', unless you are paying for their care with savings, if the patient is on Medicaid, that money is going to go to Medicaid. Not to you, not to the patient. (probably some to the lawyer! but a lawyer told me, the settlement will be taken by Medicaid.)
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I can speak from experience that any changes in health, cold, flu, a bout of diarrhea and especially a UTI will throw off the person's behavior. I'm not sure if this constitutes a new level of behaviors that would be permanent, but I know for sure that the illness itself and the accompanying medication can wreak havoc on the person's actions. My mom called 911 three times in one week because she messed herself. The last time, they admitted her and discovered she had a raging UTI. Her condition deteriorated to the point that she became violent and had to be tied to the bed. Once the infection was better, she became more complacent but we were advised that she could no longer live on her own because she was a danger to others and to herself. The social worker said her "episodes" would become more frequent and harder to handle. I have the utmost respect for the staff at my mom's facility. They are certainly all angels in disguise.
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Thanks to everyone who responded to my original query. Husband's fever is gone and white blood cell count is now back to normal but he can't seem to stay awake and when he is awake and walks - he is much less steady. Still hoping for full r
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recovery and return to status of his dementia before the UTI
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Even after the tests are normal he is still recovering. It may take a week or two before he "feels like himself".
After a set back like constipation my husband does not "recover" fully his decline levels off but he does not return to the pre episode level.
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