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.
