TY - JOUR

T1 - Visible Age-Related Signs and Risk of Ischemic Heart Disease in the General Population

T2 - A Prospective Cohort Study

AU - Christoffersen, Mette

AU - Frikke-Schmidt, Ruth

AU - Schnohr, Peter

AU - Jensen, Gorm B

AU - Nordestgaard, Børge G

AU - Tybjærg-Hansen, Anne

PY - 2014/3/4

Y1 - 2014/3/4

N2 - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is 1 of the most common age-related diseases, and also 1 of the most common causes of death in the general population. We tested the hypothesis that visible age-related signs associate with risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial infarction (MI), and death in the general population, independent of chronological age.METHODS AND RESULTS: 10,885 individuals aged 20 to 93 years free of IHD were followed from 1976 through 1978 until June 2011 with 100% complete follow-up. During these 35 years of follow-up, 3401 participants developed IHD and 1708 developed MI. Presence of frontoparietal baldness, crown top baldness, earlobe crease, and xanthelasmata was associated with increased risk of IHD or MI after multifactorial adjustment for chronological age and well-known cardiovascular risk factors. The risk of IHD and MI increased stepwise with increasing number of age-related signs with multifactorially adjusted hazard ratios up to 1.40 (95% confidence interval, 1.20-1.62) for IHD and 1.57 (1.28-1.93) for MI, in individuals with 3 to 4 versus no age-related signs at baseline (P for trend <0.001). In all age groups in both women and men, absolute 10-year risk of IHD and MI increased with increasing number of visible age-related signs.CONCLUSIONS: Male pattern baldness, earlobe crease, and xanthelasmata-alone or in combination-associate with increased risk of ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction independent of chronological age and other well-known cardiovascular risk factors. This is the first prospective study to show that looking old for your age is a marker of poor cardiovascular health.

AB - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is 1 of the most common age-related diseases, and also 1 of the most common causes of death in the general population. We tested the hypothesis that visible age-related signs associate with risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial infarction (MI), and death in the general population, independent of chronological age.METHODS AND RESULTS: 10,885 individuals aged 20 to 93 years free of IHD were followed from 1976 through 1978 until June 2011 with 100% complete follow-up. During these 35 years of follow-up, 3401 participants developed IHD and 1708 developed MI. Presence of frontoparietal baldness, crown top baldness, earlobe crease, and xanthelasmata was associated with increased risk of IHD or MI after multifactorial adjustment for chronological age and well-known cardiovascular risk factors. The risk of IHD and MI increased stepwise with increasing number of age-related signs with multifactorially adjusted hazard ratios up to 1.40 (95% confidence interval, 1.20-1.62) for IHD and 1.57 (1.28-1.93) for MI, in individuals with 3 to 4 versus no age-related signs at baseline (P for trend <0.001). In all age groups in both women and men, absolute 10-year risk of IHD and MI increased with increasing number of visible age-related signs.CONCLUSIONS: Male pattern baldness, earlobe crease, and xanthelasmata-alone or in combination-associate with increased risk of ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction independent of chronological age and other well-known cardiovascular risk factors. This is the first prospective study to show that looking old for your age is a marker of poor cardiovascular health.

KW - Adult

KW - Aged

KW - Aged, 80 and over

KW - Aging

KW - Alopecia

KW - Cohort Studies

KW - Ear, External

KW - Female

KW - Follow-Up Studies

KW - Humans

KW - Incidence

KW - Longitudinal Studies

KW - Male

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Myocardial Infarction

KW - Myocardial Ischemia

KW - Prospective Studies

KW - Retrospective Studies

KW - Risk Factors

KW - Skin

U2 - 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.001696

DO - 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.001696

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 24334176

VL - 129

SP - 990

EP - 998

JO - Circulation Research

JF - Circulation Research

SN - 0009-7330

IS - 9

ER -