Sir Patrick Stewart (Photo: Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File) Sir Patrick Stewart, the legendary actor known for his roles in Star Trek and the X-Men films, has died at the age of 86. In lieu of flowers, the family asked for donations to the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s caregiver resources. Two proteins are behind the damage in Alzheimer’s: beta-amyloid and tau. Beta-amyloid builds up as sticky plaques between brain cells, while tau forms tangles inside them. Together they kill brain cells, especially in the areas that handle memory and learning. The damage spreads slowly through the brain over many years. LBD is a brain disorder that affects thinking, movement, behaviour and mood, according to Alzheimers.gov. Visual hallucinations are a common symptom and tend to appear early. Dr Neill Graff-Radford, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, says LBD is caused by “an abnormal protein, called synuclein”. It collects in certain nerve cells as deposits known as Lewy bodies, named after the physician who first identified them. They are found in the deep brain structures that control movement, and also in the regions linked to emotion, behaviour, judgment and awareness. Read More: Women More Likely To Develop Dementia Than Men, Global Study Finds Alzheimer’s and LBD are two distinct conditions, but they often cause overlapping symptoms. They differ in which symptoms appear first, how many a person has and what is happening in the brain at a cellular level. In LBD, memory is affected too but is rarely the main problem early on. According to the centre, a person may recall yesterday’s events perfectly well but find it hard to stay focused on what is being said in the moment, or need extra time to respond. They may struggle to organise their thoughts, find the right words or work out the steps of a familiar task. The trouble lies less in storing memories and more in using the brain in real time, particularly with executive function, such as multitasking and problem-solving. LBD also brings unpredictable and sometimes dramatic swings in thinking through the day. One minute a person may hold a coherent conversation about current events, and the next they may struggle to follow what is being said. People with Alzheimer’s have good and bad days too, but their symptoms do not usually swing to extremes within the same day. In LBD, movement problems that resemble Parkinson’s disease begin early. In Alzheimer’s, they appear late, if at all. Namya is a seasoned journalist with nearly two decades of experience. A graduate of Miranda House, Delhi University, and Boston University's College o... View More