Heart Feels Old on Aging: Study

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, have zeroed in on four signs of aging which can predict the risk of heart disease. People with a receding hairline at the temples, baldness at the head's crown, earlobe creases or yellow fatty deposits around the eyelids are 57 times more prone to chances of increased heart attack and at a 39 percent increased risk for heart disease. 

What worries you the most about getting older? Is it the wrinkles or the gray hair or the thought of leading a restricted life and battling with several health issues? It is common for things to change rapidly as we age. One can deny or fight the fact, but one will get older.  

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, have zeroed in on four signs of aging which can predict the risk of heart disease. People with a receding hairline at the temples, baldness at the head's crown, earlobe creases or yellow fatty deposits around the eyelids are 57 times more prone to chances of increased heart attack and at a 39 percent increased risk for heart disease.

"The visible signs of aging reflect physiologic or biological age, not chronological age, and are independent of chronological age," said Anne Tybjaerg-Hansen, M.D., the study's senior author and professor of clinical biochemistry at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Dr. Anne Tybjaerg-Hansen was quoted in Calgary Herald saying, "Looking old for your age marks poor cardiovascular health."

For the study, the researchers analyzed nearly 10,885 participants in a Copenhagen Heart Study that were 40 years and older in which nearly 45 percent of the participants were women. They noticed that nearly 7,537 participants had frontoparietal baldness and 3,938 had crown top baldness, 3,405 had earlobe creases and 678 had fatty deposits around the eye.

On doing a 35-year follow up, they were surprised to see nearly 3,401 participants had developed heart disease and 1,708 had a heart attack.

Individually and combined, these signs predicted heart attack and heart disease independent of traditional risk factors. According to the researchers, the strongest predictor of both heart attack and heart disease was the fatty deposits around the eye.

Heart attack and heart disease risk increased with each additional sign of aging in all age groups and among men and women. The highest risk was for those in their 70s and those with multiple signs of aging.

"Checking these visible aging signs should be a routine part of every doctor's physical examination," Tybjaerg-Hansen said.

This research was presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.