Detection of heart disease by signs of aging

According to a new study, if you look old, your heart may 'feel' you old. This study was presented at the Scientific Conference of the American Heart Association 2012 (American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012).

The main author of the study, medical doctor Anne Tybjaerg-Hansen, professor of clinical biochemistry at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, said: "Signs of aging reflect the physiological age or biological age, no must be age time, and be independent of age. "

People with 3 to 4 signs of aging will increase their risk of heart attack by 57% and increase their risk of heart disease by 39%. Signs include baldness in the temple, baldness at the top of the head, the appearance of wrinkles in the earlobe or yellow fat around the eyelids.

For the above conclusions, the researchers analyzed 10,885 participants aged 40 and over (of which 45% were women) in the Copenhagen heart study (Copenhagen Heart Study). Among these people, 7,537 had baldness in the temple, 3,938 had baldness in the head, 3405 had wrinkles in the earlobes, and 678 fat people around the eyes.

During the 35-year follow-up, of the 10,885 people mentioned above, there were 3,401 cases of heart disease development and 1,708 people had a heart attack.

Each of these signs or combinations of these signs can help predict heart attacks and heart disease, which are independent of traditional risk factors. Signs of fat around the eyes are the best sign of both heart disease and heart attack.

The more signs of aging appear, the greater the risk of heart attack and the risk of cardiovascular disease. People at highest risk of heart attack and heart disease are those in their 70s and have many signs of aging.

In this study, nurses and laboratory technicians counted the amount of silver hair, observed the clarity of wrinkles, the type and extent of baldness, the presence of earlobe wrinkles and eyelids. eye.

Tybjaerg-Hansen said that checking the signs of aging visible by the eye should become part of the routine of medical examinations by doctors.

The co-authors of the study include Mette Christoffersen, Ph.D., member; and medical doctors Ruth Frikke-Schmidt; Peter Schnohr, Gorm Jensen, and Borge Nordestgaard.