Melanoma & Parkinson's Disease

In 2009, researchers at the Harvard University School of Public Health announced that there may be a connection between having a family history of melanoma and the development of Parkinson's disease. The study found that those with a family history of melanoma are twice as likely to get Parkinson's disease than those without such a history.

The Study

• Researchers studied a group of more than 100,000 people over 14 to 20 years. The study found that those who got Parkinson's also had a close relative such as a parent or sibling who also had Parkinson's.

The Findings

• The total number of individuals in the study who developed Parkinson's was 616, according to the NIH. Based on the study, it has been suggested that getting melanoma does not necessarily mean that you get Parkinson's, but that both illnesses have common genes. Since the specific link between the two diseases is not known, more research most likely will need to occur.

Significance

• It has been previously observed that individuals with red hair tend to develop melanoma more than non-redheads. Likewise, having a light hair color is a risk factor for developing Parkinson's. Thus, genes that code for pigment metabolism may be implicated in both illnesses.

About Parkinson's and Melanoma

• Melanoma is the most lethal form of skin cancer and is characterized by the development of dark moles on the skin. Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder that is progressive in nature and characterized by tremors and other troubles with movement. Among the risk factors common to both diseases are having a light complexion and experiencing a severe sunburn as a child.

Dissent

• At the Piedmont Cancer Registry in Turin, Italy, one doctor felt that the findings of the aforementioned Harvard Study were not that significant. Dr. Roberto Zanetti said he believed that the results did not help explain why there is a link nor the mechanisms that cause the association between the two diseases.