Signs of aging, not actual age, might be linked to heart disease

Trying to keep the body younger may no longer be unique to those who buy Restylane and other skin enhancers to appear more exuberant and youthful.

Warning signs of future heart failure?
The visible effects of aging, such as baldness or a receding hairline, earlobe creasing or fatty deposits around the eyelids, might be the physical signs and increased evidence that an individual is at risk for heart disease, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

"Checking these visible aging signs should be a routine part of every doctor's physical examination," said senior study author Anne Tybjaerg-Hansen, MD, professor of clinical biochemistry at the University.

Checking for signs
The extensive Copenhagen Heart Study analyzed more than 10,000 participants, aged 40 years and above, and followed up with check-ups over 35 years. In total more than 7,500 had receding baldness around the temples, roughly 3,900 had baldness on the top of the head, almost 3,400 had earlobe creasing and close to 680 had fatty eye deposits. For those who had three to four of these aging signs, especially xanthelasmata (yellow fatty deposits around the eyelids), there was an overall 39 percent risk for heart disease and a 57 percent risk of a heart attack.

In the 35 years of the study, close to 1,700 suffered from a heart attack, while 3,400 were afflicted with another type of heart disease.

"Visible signs of aging reflect physiologic or biological age, not chronological age, and are independent of chronological age," explained Tybjaerg-Hansen, which suggests that the more someone visibly looks like they are aging on the outside, regardless of their actual age, the more their internal organs are deteriorating as well.

In the United States alone, one out of every four deaths is attributed to heart disease, or almost 600,000 a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC notes that 935,000 people in the U.S. will suffer from a heart attack each year, so it is vital to take early action to spot warning signs for this high-risk disease.