Rosacea Skin Condition Shows Link To Parkinson's Disease, Say Experts

Rosacea, a skin condition that makes a person exhibit red, swollen bumps on the face, may be linked to Parkinson's disease among the Danish, according to researchers.

Experts from the University of Copenhagen studied 5.4 million Danish, including 22,387 people who seemed to show Parkinson's disease and 68,053 were seen to indicate rosacea.

After analyzing Parkinson's disease and rosacea rates, experts found that Parkinson's disease seemed to set in 2.4 years earlier in patients who were affected with rosacea.

Patients who used the antibiotic tetracycline, which helps to treat rosacea, showed a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease. 

"Rosacea constitutes an independent risk factor for Parkinson disease. This association could be due to shared pathogenic mechanisms involving elevated matrix metalloproteinase activity. The clinical consequences of this association require further study," lead researcher Alexander Egeberg, of the University of Copenhagen, wrote.

Researchers believe that matrix metalloproteinase, a particular protein-digesting enzyme, can show the link between rosacea and Parkinson's disease. The enzyme, which aims for tissue activity, leads to the loss of brain cells, say experts.

"In sum, Egeberg et al show, for what appears to be the first time, that there is a significantly increased risk of Parkinson's disease in patients with rosacea. The authors provide some tentative pathophysiologic mechanisms that could link the increased incidence of Parkinson's disease among individuals with rosacea and the reduction of Parkinson's disease incidence with tetracycline, namely, through the action, involvement or mediation of matrix metalloproteinases," Thomas S. Wingo of Emory University wrote.

"Although this link may very well be true, what is needed at this time is for another cohort to replicate the findings of Egeberg et al, as they suggest. In addition, their intriguing finding that increased tetracycline use is associated with a small but appreciable reduction in the risk of Parkinson's disease should be further explored," added Wingo.

The findings are published in the journal JAMA Neurology.