Visible aging signs may predict heart disease, says Danish report
Source: Agencies |
November 8, 2012, Thursday
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COMMON visible signs of aging may not just be a vanity or employment problem. They may also be a harbinger of heart disease.
In a large, long-term study, people who showed 3-4 signs of aging, such as receding hairlines at the temples, baldness at the crown of the head, earlobe creases or yellow fatty deposits around the eyelids had a 57 percent higher risk of heart attack and a 39 percent increased risk of developing heart disease, Danish researchers found.
Fatty cholesterol deposits around the eyes, a condition know as xanthelasmata, was the strongest individual predictor of both heart attack and heart disease, according to data presented on Tuesday at the American Heart Association scientific meeting in Los Angeles. There was a 35 percent increase in heart attacks among subjects with the condition, researchers found.
"The visible signs of aging reflect physiologic or biologic age and are independent of chronologic age," said Dr Anne Tybjaerg-Hansen, lead investigator of the Copenhagen Heart Study and a professor of clinical biochemistry at the University of Copenhagen.
Researchers were able to rule out gray hair and wrinkles as predictors of heart disease. Tybjaerg-Hansen, a youthful looking 60-year-old, said those factors appear to reflect chronological age rather than health issues.
Beginning in 1976, researchers analyzed nearly 11,000 subjects 40 years of age and older for a variety of common aging signs. Of them, 7,537 had receding hairlines at the temples, 3,938 had baldness at the crown of the head, 3,405 had earlobe crease and 678 sported fatty deposits around the eye.
In 35 years of follow-up through May 2011, 3,401 of those subjects developed heart disease and 1,708 had a heart attack, they found.
The aging signs predicted risk of heart attack and heart disease independent of usual risk factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking, they said.
The risk increased with each additional sign of aging in all age groups among men and women, with the highest risk found among those who had three or four of the problematic signs.
"Checking these visible signs of aging should be a routine part of every doctor's physical examination," Tybjaerg-Hansen said.
The doctor, who got involved in the Copenhagen study in the late 80s, said lifestyle changes and more intensive lipid-lowering therapy should be considered for patients who look older than their age.
In a large, long-term study, people who showed 3-4 signs of aging, such as receding hairlines at the temples, baldness at the crown of the head, earlobe creases or yellow fatty deposits around the eyelids had a 57 percent higher risk of heart attack and a 39 percent increased risk of developing heart disease, Danish researchers found.
Fatty cholesterol deposits around the eyes, a condition know as xanthelasmata, was the strongest individual predictor of both heart attack and heart disease, according to data presented on Tuesday at the American Heart Association scientific meeting in Los Angeles. There was a 35 percent increase in heart attacks among subjects with the condition, researchers found.
"The visible signs of aging reflect physiologic or biologic age and are independent of chronologic age," said Dr Anne Tybjaerg-Hansen, lead investigator of the Copenhagen Heart Study and a professor of clinical biochemistry at the University of Copenhagen.
Researchers were able to rule out gray hair and wrinkles as predictors of heart disease. Tybjaerg-Hansen, a youthful looking 60-year-old, said those factors appear to reflect chronological age rather than health issues.
Beginning in 1976, researchers analyzed nearly 11,000 subjects 40 years of age and older for a variety of common aging signs. Of them, 7,537 had receding hairlines at the temples, 3,938 had baldness at the crown of the head, 3,405 had earlobe crease and 678 sported fatty deposits around the eye.
In 35 years of follow-up through May 2011, 3,401 of those subjects developed heart disease and 1,708 had a heart attack, they found.
The aging signs predicted risk of heart attack and heart disease independent of usual risk factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking, they said.
The risk increased with each additional sign of aging in all age groups among men and women, with the highest risk found among those who had three or four of the problematic signs.
"Checking these visible signs of aging should be a routine part of every doctor's physical examination," Tybjaerg-Hansen said.
The doctor, who got involved in the Copenhagen study in the late 80s, said lifestyle changes and more intensive lipid-lowering therapy should be considered for patients who look older than their age.
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