Look in the Mirror for Signs of Heart Disease

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If you look old, your heart may be old. That’s the finding of one study released at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions.

Researchers say telltale signs are a receding hairline at the temples, baldness at the crown of the head, an earlobe crease and yellow fatty deposits around the eyelids.

People over 40 who have three or all four of those signs are more than 50 percent more likely to have a heart attack, and are nearly 40 percent more likely to have heart disease in general.

Researchers say doctors should be looking for those signs when you have check-ups in addition to looking at your blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

They say those visible signs of aging reflect our biologic age, and we need to pay attention to them.