Urinary Tract Infections Pose a Serious Risk to Seniors and Elderly with Dr. Johnny Cascone

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In this episode of The Injured Senior Podcast, Dr. Johnny Cascone, an Infectious Disease physician, joins host Steve Heisler to discuss Urinary Tract Infections and their prevalence in the nursing home community. You’ll also learn risk factors, signs, symptoms, and even the best practices on preventing and treating UTIs so they don’t become septic and lead to shock – or even death. Tune in to hear more from Dr. Cascone and his tips and information on Urinary Tract Infections, especially if you’re a caregiver to an elderly loved one. 

In This Episode: 

  • [03:00] Dr. Johnny Cascone speaks about the prevalence of UTIs in the elderly population, how often and why they can occur
  • [05:00] Dr. Cascone explains common symptoms and types of UTI’s and how an untreated UTI can turn into sepsis
  • [09:00] Risk factors, Common causes, and predispositions of urinary tract infections
  • [11:00] How untreated infections affects the body and can lead to sepsis and septic shock and best practices for prevention of UTIs and sepsis
  • [15:00] Why UTIs are common in nursing homes and how the use of catheters can affect the probability of an infection
  • [19:30] The best way to deal with UTIs and recognizing symptoms as a caregiver of an elderly person

Key Takeaways: 

  • Urinary Tract Infections are more common in women and occur in 25-50% of women over the age of 80 and live in nursing homes. Most of this is due to their anatomy.
  • If patients get treated, it’s relatively easy to recover from, however, left untreated for a long time can lead to sepsis, septic shock, and even death. 
  • UTI’s fall into two categories: cystitis, a lower urinary tract infection mainly the urethra and bladder and is most common. Pyelonephritis is the other category and is more commonly known as a kidney infection.
  • The best practices for preventing UTIs are practicing good hygiene and being aware of your body and any symptoms you might be having. Early treatment for symptoms is key.

Meet Dr. Johnny Cascone

Johnny Cascone is a board-certified internal medicine and infectious disease physician. His internal medicine residency was done at the University of Kansas and infectious disease fellowship at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Cascone is the medical director of nursing homes in southwest Missouri. His medical practice includes the care of residents in long-term care facilities, infectious disease consultations, and telemedicine infectious disease services to rural facilities. Dr. Cascone has a special interest in the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis, Clostridium difficile colitis, Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, antimicrobial stewardship, and pressure ulcers. He lives in Joplin, Missouri with his family.

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