Limited access to specialized health care services can delay diagnosis and treatment of the flu, causing it to progress to pneumonia, the fifth leading cause of death among the elderly…It could be beneficial to refine guidelines for the immunization, testing, and treatment of flu in older patients with dementia when planning for the possibility of a flu pandemic. — Elena Naumova, PhD, professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine Bob DeMarco Alzheimer’s Reading Room Editor People suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia have difficulty communicating pain and illness. In the case of my mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, she never complains or says she is feeling ill. This forces me to very diligent in checking her each day. Four times this year my mother had a bladder infection. I first noticed that she felt warm, that she seem to be perspiring, and her eyes looked glassy. When I see this I take her temperature. My mother’s normal temperature is around 97.6. I now know from experience that when her temperature rises into the 98.2-98.4 area she likely has a bladder infection. It took me five years to learn this. How many bladder infections did my mother have before I learned this? When my mother has a bladder infection she never complains of pain. My mother also has headaches every day. She never complains. This is another thing I have to check frequently. The most worrisome of these headaches occurs when they are located on the top of her head — this can be a sign of stroke, or mini-stroke.

Original Source of Pneumonia and Influenza (Flu) Hospitalizations in Elderly People with Dementia