Medical expert of the article
New publications
Appearance will tell about the risk of heart disease
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Scientists from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, found that people who look older than their age - a bald spot, wrinkles on the eyelids or near the earlobes - are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than peers looking for years.
"The visible signs of aging reflect the physiological or biological age, but not chronological, and do not depend on the latter," says lead author Anna Hansen.
In the course of the study, Dr. Hansen and her team found that people with early signs of aging have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular ailments, in particular the risk of a heart attack lies in wait for them 57% more often, and coronary heart disease 39%.
Such a conclusion was made by experts based on the data of 10 885 people who took part in the study. All subjects were aged 40 years and 45% were women.
For signs of aging, experts took the amount of gray hair, features and type of baldness, the severity of wrinkles and folds near the ear lobes.
In 7 537 participants, frontal-parietal alopecia was observed, 3 938 had baldness in the upper part of the crown, 3 405 had folds in the ear lobes, and 678 looked older than their age due to fat deposits around the eyes.
Observation of the participants was conducted for 35 years. During this period, heart disease developed in 3,401 people, and 1,708 had a heart attack.
When scientists analyzed the data statistically, they found that, together or separately, the signs of aging were associated with a higher risk of heart attack and heart disease, even if we exclude age and other known risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The strongest connection was observed between the deposits containing cholesterol, which are formed on the skin around the eyes in the form of yellow fat accumulation and a heart attack.
With each new sign of aging, the risks of developing cardiovascular diseases only increase in both men and women.
Researchers say that further research should focus on identifying biological mechanisms that could explain how the signs of aging are associated with a risk of developing heart disease.
[