Heart attack: Warning signs on your face to look out for

A heart attack happens when a part of the heart muscle doesn't get enough blood. The majority of heart attacks result from arterial clogging that build-ups over the course of a lifetime, eventually obstructing blood flow to the heart. The more time that passes without treatment to restore blood flow, the greater the damage to the heart muscle.

In rare cases, warning signs can occur months before an attack. In early research, scientists spotted a link between a host of facial features and an increased risk for heart problems. Some signs in the face, however, could hold clues to the condition of your heart.

Baldness could be a marker of heart disease risk, especially in men with other risk factors such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol. In men with high cholesterol and severe baldness at the vertex, or crown of the head, heart disease risk was increased nearly threefold compared to men who had high cholesterol but were not bald, according to researchers.

The biological link between hair loss and heart disease could involve elevated levels of male hormones. The scalp has a higher density of male-hormone receptors, and high levels of hormones such as testosterone are associated with an increased risk of hardening of the arteries and blood clotting.

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Natural fats, including cholesterol, can form well-circumscribed flat or slightly elevated yellowish growth around the eyelids, called as xanthelasma. Having xanthelasma is associated with abnormal lipid levels in the blood, which is known as dyslipidemia. Dyslipidemia increases the risk of cholesterol building up on the walls of arteries. This buildup can restrict blood flow to the heart, brain, and other areas of the body, increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease.

It was noted that people with cholesterol deposits on the face may also suffer from corneal arcus, where cholesterol deposits turn the colour of the eye a hazy white, grey or a blue opaque ring appears on the outer edges of the cornea.

A study of 340 patients found an earlobe crease to be a sign associated with aging and Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). The crease suggested the presence of a more severe form of heart disease in people who were showing symptoms. The earlobe crease, the researchers wrote, “may identify a subset of patients prone to early aging and to the early development of coronary artery disease, whose prognosis might be improved by early preventative measures.”

Another research studied the bodies of 300 patients who had died from various causes. In this study, the diagonal creases were associated with cardiovascular causes of death. The researchers wrote, “We found a strong association between earlobe creases and a cardiovascular cause of death in men and women after age, height, and diabetes had been controlled for.”

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