Strong forehead wrinkles may indicate cardiovascular disease

Many wrinkles on the forehead are a cause for concern?

As people get older, more and more wrinkles develop on the skin over time. Researchers now found that deep forehead wrinkles can also be an early sign of cardiovascular disease.

Researchers at the Center Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, France, found in their current research that deep forehead wrinkles may indicate the development of cardiovascular disease. The physicians presented the results of their latest study at the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in Munich.

The development of wrinkles is a natural process, as the skin grows thinner and drier with age. However, researchers have now found that many deep wrinkles on the forehead can also indicate an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. (Image: Syda Productions / fotolia.com)

Excessive wrinkles may be associated with arteriosclerosis

If people have more forehead wrinkles than is normal for people of their age, this may indicate an increased risk of dying from the effects of cardiovascular disease, say the experts. Excessive wrinkles may be associated with atherosclerosis, the hardening of the arteries due to plaque buildup, the researchers add. Atherosclerosis is a major cause of heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems.

The blood vessels on the forehead react to plaque deposits?

Changes in the collagen protein that gives structure to our hair, skin and nails and oxidative stress appear to play a role in atherosclerosis as well as in wrinkles. The study suggested that the tiny blood vessels in the forehead may be more sensitive to plaque deposits, which means that wrinkles may be a sign of aging of the vessels. The scientists analyzed a group of 3,200 adults for their study. All participants were healthy and 32, 42, 52 or 62 years old.

Depth and number of wrinkles were scored on a scale

Subjects were assigned scores depending on the number and depth of wrinkles on their forehead. A value of zero meant no wrinkles, a value of three meant many deep wrinkles. The participants were medically supervised over a period of 20 years. During this time, 233 subjects died of various causes. At the end of the study, 15.2 percent had a wrinkle score of two or three, 6.6 percent had a score of one, and 2.1 percent had a score on the wrinkle scale of zero, say the authors of the study. The researchers found that people with a wrinkle value of one had a slightly higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than people without wrinkles.

For some people, the risk was almost ten times higher

People two and three in the fold were nearly ten times more likely to die prematurely compared to people with no wrinkles at all. This increased risk persisted after adjusting for factors such as age, gender, education, smoking status, blood pressure, heart rate, diabetes and lipid levels.

Forehead wrinkles are an easy-to-identify visual marker

The higher the value of the fold, the greater the risk of cardiovascular mortality, says study author Professor Yolande Esquirol from the Center Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse. The forehead wrinkles were examined as markers because they are easy to detect visually. Just looking at a person's face can indicate a heightened risk, then experts can respond and give advice to reduce the risk, the author adds. Advice can include direct lifestyle changes, such as more exercise or a healthier diet.

A healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of heart disease

The risk of heart disease increases with age, but a healthy lifestyle and medical interventions can reduce the risk. The challenge is to identify high-risk patients early enough to make a difference, explain the physicians.

Further studies are needed

If you are a person with a potential cardiovascular risk, you need to have classic risk factors, such as blood pressure and lipid and blood sugar levels checked, adds Esquirol. This is the first time that an association has been established between cardiovascular risk and forehead wrinkles. The results must now be reviewed in further studies. (As)