A wrinkled brow may be warning sign of heart risk

THEY say a lined face is a sign of a life well lived – but a study suggests wrinkles should actually be considered a warning sign of poor health.

Adults with the most wrinkled brows were ten times more likely to die young from cardiovascular disease than those with smooth skin, scientists found.

The team assessed the faces of 3,221 volunteers aged 32 to 62 and tracked them for 20 years.

Each was given a score from zero, indicating no forehead wrinkles, to three indicating ‘numerous deep wrinkles’.

The scientists, from the University Hospital of Toulouse, said their findings reveal a cheap and easy way for GPs to spot people who are at a high risk of stroke and heart attacks – and could even be ‘more precise’ than testing for high cholesterol. They believe wrinkles are more likely when key blood vessels are blocked with fatty plaques.

Professor Jeremy Pearson of the British Heart Foundation said wrinkles could tell us ‘more than we think’, but added they ‘won’t replace tests for well-understood risk factors, such as high cholesterol and blood pressure’.

The research was presented to the European Society of Cardiology congress in Munich.