Are you familiar with the theory that earlobe creases are a marker for CV disease?

[Ex Lurker]

if so, what do you think about it?

[DesertFlower]

1. i don't think i've heard that.

can you elaborate?

[Ex Lurker]

6. apparently it's something that

doctors and nurses have noticed for years, and there have been a few studies that indicate there may be something to it. Just something else to be paranoid about, I guess. Here's a link to one study. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2744803

[DesertFlower]

7. thank you.

hey, i like your user name.

[Ex Lurker]

9. glad you like it. It points to a

lack of creativity on my part in coming up with something clever.

[DesertFlower]

12. i have a friend calls me

"sweet". that name was not available so it became sweets.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I am, as a retired RN, very familiar...

I believe it has been thoroughly debunked.

There is anecdotal evidence, but the studies show no correlation, the last I heard.

:shrug:

[DesertFlower]

5. how about the cholesterol deposits on the eye?

when i lift my eyelid the top part is lighter in color. an optometrist told me years ago that it's cholesterol deposits. i have high cholesterol.

BTW. i rarely eat meat and i don't eat fats. go figure.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. I haven't heard this one...

Cholesterol on your eyelid would not worry me...

It's when it shows up in your arteries that the problems can begin.

And...you can be vegan, and still have high cholesterol.

There is a genetic component to your levels.

If you have high counts, you might want to be working to get them down.

Just sayin...

[DesertFlower]

11. i took a statin for about 6 weeks

but had terrible side effects. i've been taking huge amounts of fish oil. it brought my triglycerides down. my doc had me add niacin and garlic. i'm due for a blood test. so we'll see what happens.

i'm not really worried, because people with low cholesterol die of heart attacks too. my homocysteine is in a really good range.

[Ex Lurker]

13. I think fish oil makes my ankles/feet swell

on the theory that the thin blood leaks into the tissues. I know a bleed easily when I take it.

[DesertFlower]

14. no problem here. nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. Sounds to me like you're doing what you need to do!

Good for you!

And good luck with your regimen...

:hi:

[DesertFlower]

16. thank you.

my doc uses allopathic and alternative medicine. i just started working with a homeopath. i have severe chronic fatigue syndrome. i've tried just about everything else.

[Hannah Bell]

19. if i recall right, that's genetic, w/o relation to cvd. but i'd have to

check to be sure.

[Hannah Bell]

21. & i'm mostly wrong....there's a link...xanthoma (xanthelasma)

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001447.htm

[Ex Lurker]

10. that makes me feel better

I find myself looking at people's earlobes lately.

[Hannah Bell]

20. most studies show correlation & some predictive power.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1892144?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=4&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed

[Ex Lurker]

22. it would also help to know

how prevalent these things are. Since reading about it, I notice a lot of people with them. If 90% of the population over a certain age has them, it ceases to have much relevance.

[napi21]

3. I've heard about it, but I can't say that I put any more belief in it than I do in the one crease on

the palm of your had being a lifeline that is supposed to indicate how long you'll live, or ridges in your fingernails indicate you have heart disease.

[Speck Tater]

4. I heard it about 30 or more years ago.

Don't have any idea if it's true or not, but I've had creases since I was a child, 60 years ago. I used to sleep with my ears folded over when I was an infant.

[Caria]

17. Linked gene

is the explanation I heard: the genes for earlobe creases and CV disease tend to stick together during meiosis. Someone with a genetic predisposition for earlobe creases is likely to have a genetic predisposition for CV disease.

[Hannah Bell]

18. yep, i heard it in grad school, & there seems to be some truth to it.