Malassezia and Parkinson's Disease
Laurence, Benito-León, Calon/Frontiers/2019
Why It Matters
This caught my attention because Malassezia is everywhere—it's on everyone's skin right now. If there's a real connection to Parkinson's, it would suggest the gut-brain axis might extend to a skin-brain axis. But this is a review paper exploring a hypothesis, not presenting new data. The idea is interesting for understanding neurodegeneration, but way too early to change anything about how you manage your skin or health.
Key Findings
- Malassezia yeasts are the dominant fungi on human skin and have been implicated in seborrheic dermatitis, which occurs at higher rates in Parkinson's patients
- The paper explores theoretical mechanisms by which these fungi could influence neuroinflammation or contribute to Parkinson's pathology
- This is hypothesis-generating work reviewing existing literature rather than presenting original experimental data
- The seborrheic dermatitis-Parkinson's connection has been noted for decades, but causation versus correlation remains unestablished