Xanthelasma And Heart Disease:
A study has found a link between Xanthelasma and heart disease. If so, this finding may help prevent heart attacks. This article will enlighten you more about this research and its results.
Many people can understand each other just by looking at each other. But the look is not the only one that speaks. The eyes can also give signs, for example, about your health, as the appearance of small yellow bumps on the eyelids (due to the deposit of fat under the skin) may be indicating that you have heart problems and help prevent Infarcts.
Technically, these plaques are known as Xanthelasma and are, in short, cholesterol- laden cells that accumulate in the skin. Xanthomas (which are superficial deposits of fat on the skin) can appear anywhere on the body, especially in the elbows, joints, tendons, knees, hands, feet or buttocks, and of different sizes (Up to 3 inches or 7.5 cm in diameter). When these bumps appear on the eyelids it is said to be a palpebral Xanthelasma.
Next to these, there is another type of accumulation of lipids (or fats) in the eyes called corneal arch, which forms a kind of yellowish ring at the edge of the cornea (the cornea is the transparent structure that is in front of the eye, which Allows the passage of light and protects the iris, which has the color and the lens; the lens of the eye). As both indicate cholesterol deposits, they have been studied by different research teams before, but no relationship was established between Xanthelasma and heart disease.
Xanthelasma or xanthoma as they are most commonly known as commonly involves the upper eyelid. This specific involvement of the eyelids gives the disease its name, xanthelasma palpebrarum or Xanthelasma Palpebra, as some people know them. It is a common problem in the elderly and the obese, however, it’s surprising how little people actually know about the condition.
In a further research of the link between Xanthelasma and heart disease, a group of specialists at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark conducted a study that demonstrated that Xanthelasma are associated with an increased risk of heart disease and long-term death. On the contrary, they found no relationship between these problems and the formation of corneal arches.
To reach these results, which were published in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal, the researchers took into account nearly 13,000 people between the ages of 20 and 93 who participated in the Copenhagen Cardiac Study between 1976 and 2009 (i.e. they followed the health status of the participants for more than 30 years).
At the beginning of the study of Xanthelasma and heart disease, none had heart problems, slightly more than four percent had Xanthelasma and nearly a quarter had coronal arches. Throughout the study, more than 1,870 patients suffered from a heart attack, almost 3,800 developed heart disease, about 1,500 suffered a stroke, and 1,815 developed cerebrovascular disease.
At the end of the study, researchers found that having Xanthelasma was associated with a higher chance of having a heart attack and developing heart disease, although researchers caution that this increase is minimal: those with these swellings were 1.4 times more likely of having a heart attack than those who did not have them.
Therefore, those who have these plates should not be alarmed (although it is always convenient to undertake periodic health checks). The interesting thing about this study of Xanthelasma and heart disease is that it can help detect heart problems in places where it is very expensive to perform blood tests that can identify the presence of high cholesterol levels.
In addition, even though it is a fat buildup, many people with eyelid deposits do not have high blood cholesterol levels, as some people have an alteration in the fat metabolism that causes cholesterol to accumulate in the walls of the arteries. However, the blood tests do not show high numbers. In these cases, the Xanthelasma would be a warning of this situation and could help to prevent problems in the future.
