Parkinson’s Disease May Double the Risk of Skin Cancer

Parkinson’s Disease is a brain disorder that causes tremors and difficulty with movement and walking, and most commonly affects people over the age of 50.  Honglei Chen, from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (North Carolina, USA), and colleagues completed an analysis of several studies that reveals that people with Parkinson’s disease are at a significantly higher risk of melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer and the leading cause of death from skin diseases.  The researchers examined 12 studies conducted from 1965 and 2010, and found that men with Parkinson’s disease were twice as likely as those without Parkinson’s to have melanoma. Women with Parkinson’s disease were one-and-a-half times as likely to be diagnosed with the dangerous form of skin cancer compared to women without Parkinson’s. There was no clear link found between Parkinson’s and non-melanoma skin cancer.  Reporting that: “Collective epidemiologic evidence supports an association of [Parkinson’s Disease] with melanoma,” the team submits that: “Further research is needed to examine the nature and mechanisms of this relationship.”