Ladislav Volicer, M.D., Ph.D., professor
Caring.com Expert
Ladislav Volicer, M.D., Ph.D., is a courtesy full professor at the School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa, and visiting professor at the Third Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. Twenty-five years ago, he established one of the first dementia special care units and introduced the concept of structured palliative care for patients with advanced dementia. He is recognized as an international expert on advanced dementia care and was recently an invited speaker in Southeast Asia and Australia. He has published more than 200 articles and chapters and edited four books on the clinical management of dementia.
Recently Published on Caring.com
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How can I get my wife to take showers? — May 21, 2013Tell her about a special occasion for which she needs to take shower (e.g., visit of a friend with sensitive nose, church, cinema). Be inventive with fiblets
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Where does the blockage go after a stroke? — May 21, 2013The clot may be dissolved or other blood vessels take over damaged part of the brain. Brain has a great ability to repair itself but the repair may take long time. You have... -
What he is doing is caused by boredom. What he needs is a meaningful activity; music that he likes, simple conversation/reminiscence, simple activity like sorting. You cert... -
Can a stroke lead to blindness? — Apr 25, 2013It is hard to predict how well people may recover from the stroke. The recovery may last a year or more. In the meantime, you might want to check his blood pressure and con... -
There is no specific time that adjusting to new environment would take in all people. I think that your father needs better psychiatric evaluation and management. Anxiety i... -
There are definitely facilities that provide day care for person's with Alzheimer's disease. To locate one close to where you live, contact you chapter of the Azlheimer Ass... -
Suggestions from the previous answer might help but in some cases it is necessary to premedicate the person with dementia to decrease his anxiety. A short term anti-anxiety... -
Will moving severe Alz age 83 to new home shorten life? — Dec 03, 2012There is some evidence that relocation of individuals with dementia may result in increased mortality, increased falls and worse health status. However, there are other fac... -
How do you get someone to accept memory loss? — Oct 18, 2012Sometime it is useful to demonstrate to her how impaired she is. I would expect that she has also impairment of executive function that can be measured by asking her to dra... -
If your mother has no cognitive impairment after years of having this hallucination, it is unlikely that she has dementia. It is more likely that she has paranoid schizophr... -
It is possible that you might have some "presymptomatic markers" but you have to realize that it is not clear if and how they could predict development of dementia in indiv... -
I appreciate very much that you are trying to maintain contact of your mother with your children. Unfortunately, there is not a specific medication for angry outbursts. How... -
As his dementia progresses,your husband may become confused about your identity. For instance, he may consider you to be his mother. However, it is impossible to predict wh... -
Hallucinations and delusions could be symptoms of both vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Very often, both of those diseases are found together when the brain of po... -
If my mother is in late-severe stage of Alzheimer's, how much longer should I expect her to live? — Nov 03, 2011You do not describe in which way is your mother suffering but she should not be suffering if she receives compassionate care. Try to involve her in a hospice program becaus... -
Not cleaning his dentures may allow overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria in your father's mouth that would increase his risk of developing aspiration pneumonia. Dentist might ... -
It is impossible to provide prognosis for your mother because Alzheimer's disease does not cause death itself; death is caused by complications, most often pneumonia, and i... -
I am sorry to read about your problems with your friend. His behaviors are not unusual for somebody with dementia. He is becoming more and more dependent on you as his deme... -
Is it typical for Alzheimer's patients to make up stories? — Oct 16, 2011People with Alzheimer's disease may develop delusions (false beliefs held with absolute conviction despite superior evidence) and hallucinations (perceptions in a conscious... -
Increased sleepiness is very common in late stage Alzheimer's disease. However, if your mother is only in the moderate stage, there could be other causes of her deep sleep.... -
Sleeping a lot is a common feature of advanced Alzheimer's disease but I do not know of any evidence that sleeping a lot would decrease the length of survival. Make sure th... -
It is almost impossible to determine life expectancy in somebody with severe Alzheimer's disease. It is because people do not die of Alzheimer's disease itself, but of comp... -
My Mother is 93 year old with Alzheimer's. What medications can help reduce her anxiety? — Jun 20, 2011You should try first non-pharmacological means to reduce anxiety of your mother. Try relaxing music, comfortable environment, lavender scent, etc. If that is not sufficient... -
Exelon patch is causing less side effects than Exelon pill but has the same effect as Aricept pill. So you would not get much benefit except may be from easier administrati... -
Is Seroquel safe for an elderly dementia patient? — Mar 28, 2011Giving Aricept in the evening may cause nightmares and sleeping problems. If your husband is not having delusions or hallucinating, Risperidone may not be appropriate and h...
