A French study shows for the first time a link between forehead wrinkles and atherosclerosis, a disease that increases the risk of cardiovascular accident. Simple screening of people at risk could thus be set up to prevent the worsening of this banal arterial disease.
The new study led by Yolande Esquirol, associate professor in occupational health at Toulouse University Hospital Center, and recently presented at European Congress of Cardiology, the 2018 ESC, shows that forehead wrinkles could be a quick and easy way to spot people at risk of developing complications from atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis: the cause of coronary heart disease and heart attacks
Atherosclerosis is a disease of the arteries characterized by the appearance of “atheroma plaques” on the inner wall of the arteries, plaques mainly composed of fatty substances and fibrin, and which narrow the lumen. This disease of the arteries can lead to more serious problems such as a heart attack or stroke.
Among the main risk factors for this disease: smoking, high cholesterol, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, age or even a family history of heart disease … not always easy to diagnose quickly.
Forehead wrinkles: a quick and easy marker
This is why the discovery of Professor Esquirol, presented at the 2018 annual conference of the European Society of Cardiology in Munich, could well facilitate its diagnosis. “You can’t see or feel risk factors like high cholesterol or high blood pressure,” the doctor says.
“We explored forehead wrinkles as a marker for these risk factors because it’s simple and visual. Just looking at a person’s face might set off an alarm, so we could then give advice on reducing them. risks, ”she adds.
A rating of wrinkles
To perform this study, Yolande Esquirol and her colleagues examined forehead wrinkles in 3,200 healthy adults, aged 32 to 62. The researchers rated the participants’ wrinkles using a rating system ranging from 0 (“no wrinkles”) to 3 (“many deep wrinkles”). The patients were followed for 20 years, during which time 233 participants died of various diseases.
Overall, research has found a directly proportional link between the level of wrinkle scoring and the risk of dying from a cardiovascular problem. Patients with a wrinkle score of 2 and 3 were almost 10 times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than people with a wrinkle score of 0…
Other visual markers in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease
This is not the first time that facial features have been explored as potential markers of cardiovascular health. Old studies have shown that male pattern baldness and early gray hair are associated with 5 times the risk of heart disease.
Forehead wrinkles could be a simple and inexpensive way to determine if a patient has atherosclerosis. “Forehead wrinkles can be a marker for atherosclerosis,” says Yolande Esquirol. “This is the first time that a link has been established between cardiovascular risk and forehead wrinkles, so the results must be confirmed in future studies,” she says. “But the practice could now be used in doctors’ offices and clinics. It costs nothing and there is no risk,” concludes the author of this study!
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