Wrinkles are an inevitable consequence of aging and one would think that they are of no use. And yet, researchers from the University of Toulouse have just shown that deep wrinkles on the forehead could signal a risk of cardiovascular illnesses. The study was previewed at the ESC Congress 2018in Munich, the annual conference of the European Society of Cardiology.
Scientists studied forehead wrinkles in 3,200 active adults, all of whom were healthy and aged 32, 42, 52 and 62 at the time of the study. The doctors then gave them scores based on the number and depth of their wrinkles: 0, there were no wrinkles; 3, they were numerous and deep.
10 times more risk with a score of 3
In the 20 years that followed, 233 participants died of various causes. The scientists then realized that people with a score of 1 were 5 times more likely to die of heart disease and 10 times more likely in those with a score of 2 or 3, compared to people without heart disease. all wrinkles. These results were obtained even after the researchers took into account factors that may affect the risk of death from heart disease, such as age, gender, level of education, smokingthe blood pressurethe cholesterol and the diabetes.
For now, scientists do not know the reason for this correlation and only make assumptions. Indeed, they believe that forehead wrinkles could be a marker of atherosclerosis – either the hardening of the arteries due to the formation of lipid plaques – which is at the origin, among other things, of heart attack. Furthermore, changes in collagen proteins (which make up our skin) and oxidative stress seem to play a role in both atherosclerosis and wrinkles. In addition, the blood vessels in the forehead are so small that they may be more susceptible to the formation of fatty plaques.
An easy and inexpensive whistleblower
The study authors said that if these findings are confirmed by further research, examining forehead wrinkles could be an easy and inexpensive way to identify people at high risk for heart disease. This could allow them to provide advice upstream such as doing more exercises or changing their diet.
“Of course, if you have a person at cardiovascular risk, you should check the classic factors such as blood pressure, lipids and blood glucose levels, but you could already provide some recommendations on lifestyle factors” , said in a press release Yolande Esquirol, the main author of the study.
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