SKIN DISORDERS IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE

8th February 2014 - New research

The integumentary system is the skin and its associated glands, including the sweat glands, the sebaceous glands, and the hair and nails. Those medical disorders asociated with the skin that commonly occur in Parkinson's Disease are seborrhea, hyperhidrosis, and melanoma.Seborrhea causes excessively oily skin. Sebaceous glands are glands in the skin that secrete sebum, to lubricate the skin and hair. Seborrhea can therefore result in excessive secretion of sebum by the sebaceous glands and its accumulation on the skin surface. There is an increased likelihood of seborrhea in Parkinson's Disease that is due to low dopamine. For more information go to Seborrhea

 Hyperhidrosis is overactive sweat glands. Hyperhidrosis can therefore result in excessive sweat secretion. There is an increased likelihood of hyperhidrosis in Parkinson's Disease. Instead of being due to Parkinson's Disease, the increased sweat secretion is usually due to Parkinson's Disease drugs. As an unintended side effect L-dopa can produce adrenaline, which stimulates the sweat glands. For more information go to Hyperhidrosis

Melanoma is a form of skin cancer. The risk of melanoma could sometimes be as much as four to five times higher in Parkinson's Disease. The melanocyes in the skin produce melanin, which is made from L-tyrosine via L-dopa. This is the same means as dopamine in the dopaminergic neurons. Given that melanin helps to protect skin cells from Ultra Violet induced damage, melanoma is probably increased in Parkinson's Disease because of the reduced capacity to produce L-dopa in the melanocytes.