Seborrheic Dermatitis and Parkinson’s Disease

Feb. 11

Parkinson’s disease is a complex neurodegenerative disorder. In Parkinson's disease, certain nerve cells inside the brain called neurons slowly break down or die. Many of the symptoms of Parkinson's are now known to be due to a loss of neurons that produce a chemical called dopamine. When dopamine levels decrease, the result is irregular brain activity and subsequently problems with movement and other symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease. Parkinson’s Disease has a prevalence of approximately 0.5–1% among those aged 65–69 years and prevalence rises to about 1–3% among those aged 80 years of age and older.

The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease generally develop very slowly over many years. Symptoms may differ slightly between people. Symptoms are often classified into two types - one type is referred to a ‘motor’ symptoms and the other type is referred to as non-motor symptoms.

MOTOR SYMPTOMS OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE

People affected by Parkinson’s disease may experience:

Tremor. This tremor occurs mainly when the person is not moving. One type is of tremor is a tremor in the hands known as a pill rolling tremor.
Slow movements and reduced movement. This is known as bradykinesia (slow movement) and hypokinesia (reduced movement).
Stiffness of the limbs. (rigidity)
Problems with gait and balance. This is referred to as “postural instability.”

NON-MOTOR SYMPTOMS OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE

In addition to these ‘motor’ symptoms that were described above, people with Parkinson’s disease may also have non motor symptoms. These symptoms include depression, anxiety, sleeping problems, loss of smell, apathy, hallucinations, constipation, orthostatic hypotension, and a variety of memory and thinking impairments. Other non-motor symptoms include pain, fatigue, low blood pressure, restless legs, bladder and bowel problems, skin and sweating problems, issues with eating, swallowing, saliva and dental health, issues with speech and communication, eye and foot care.

Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease

There is not a specific single test that allows one to diagnose Parkinson’s Disease. The diagnosis comes from a combination of information obtained from the history and physical examination. Features such are tremor, muscle rigidity, slowed movement (bradykinesia), poor balance, speech changes, changes in writing, altered automatic functions (like blinking, smiling and swinging the arms) will help the neurologist properly diagnose Parkinson’s disease. Generally speaking, the diagnosis of Parkinson’s diseaese is based on clinical symptoms with the criteria for a diagnosis requiring the presence of bradykinesia plus either tremor or rigidity to make the diagnosis.

Seborrheic Dermatitis (SD) and Parkinson’s Disease

The prevalence of seborrheic dermatitis is known to be increased in several neurological diseases including Parkinson’s disease. For example, the prevalence of SD in the general population is around 3-5 % whereas the prevalence of SD in patients with PD has been reported to range from 18.6% to 59%.

Seborrheic Dermatitis is Closely Linked to the Severity of Motor Symptoms

In one study in 2022 by Tomic and colleagues, the severity of a patient’s motor symptoms correlated with their likelihood to develop seborrheic dermatitis. In other words, patients with moderate-to-severe motor symptoms were more likely to develop seborrheic dermatitis compared to those with mild motor symptoms.