Worry about an Earlobe Crease & Heart Disease

[JoanPanic]

Am I needlessly worried? I am a middle aged woman at the lowest risk for heart disease (online calcuators say 1% in the next 10 years) with no family history, elderly parents, good cholesterol ratio and triglyceride levels, no diabetes, am fit, exercise nearly every day, eat heart healthy, have normal blood pressure below 120/80. I stumbled upon research that links a crease in the earlobe to predicting heart disease independent of and in the absense of any risk factors. I have googled and read everything I could find, but am getting more confused. Some articles say it must be in both ears (mine is in one); some say it must be deep (what is deep??) and some say it applies to men. Any help or reassurance would be greatly appreciated.

[lass]

Hi! I have got to say, I've never heard of this before. As you say, all the usual risk factors don't apply to you so I don't think you should worry about this.

Unfortunately there is soooooo much conflicting information out there, and most of it hasn't really got any substantial proof or back up. I work in a hospital and the doctor's there are appalled by the rubbish on the internet - they say to look at the authors and (if they reveal themselves) they are often not in any way medically or scientifically qualified!

If I were you, I'd try to dismiss this as unsupported information, and maybe next time you see your doctor you could mention it and see what kind of reaction you get. Or you could try asking on a reputable website - there is one in the UK called www.netdoctor.co.uk which is run by GPs and they answer questions like this.

Do you have any reason why you are concerned (other than what you read?). Do you have any symptoms?

Sorry I can't help more!

[JoanPanic]

Dear Ckirby25,

Thank you for responding. That was very kind of you. No, I have no reason to be concerned. No symptoms of any kind. I regret having googled, and I would strongly advise anyone with health anxiety to resist the urge to google. It was just very disheartening to think that a little line on the earlobe that I never noticed before could signal heart disease. My rational side and instincts say it is not true, but someone with health anxiety is not always reasonable.

Again, thank you

[Stu M]

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">I regret having googled, and I would strongly advise anyone with health anxiety to resist the urge to google.

My rational side and instincts say it is not true, but someone with health anxiety is not always reasonable.<div align="right">Originally posted by JoanPanic - 26 November 2006 : 00:13:02</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">

Hello Joan,

How right you are!! I too have health anxiety and although the internet is a fantastic resource I have to be very careful what I read.

If you can stay rational you can find a wealth of information on the net, as I have discovered recently.

But be careful not to fall into the trap of the 'I must have that, it says so on this webpage'.

I must say Ive never heard of this connection with earlobes, and would not worry about it too much. If others thought it was a viable worry im sure they would have posted to let you know.

Take care and keep smiling [^]

Stu

[JoanPanic]

Thank you, Stu. I am glad to have found this forum and appreciate your reply. I will try not to worry and keep things in perspective. The terrible thing about this health anxiety is that once one fear is alleviated, it seems another one is waiting in the wings to take its place!

[Phill2]

Hi Guys
Iread the same thing a couple of weeks ago.Can't remember where.
I ,like you, am pretty low risk but I have the creases in both ears.
I've chosen to ignore it cause it sounds just a little too far - fetched
Phill

Don't believe everything you think.

[Phill2]

Hi Joan
Did some more research and found that there is no specific link as many others factors eg age , skin type etc can cause the creases too.
I wouldn't worry about it
Phill

Don't believe everything you think.

[PaulBl]

There is medical evidence for a link. My advice is to discuss this with your doctor.

[nomorepanic]

Please note that this is a very old post and Joan has not been on the site since Dec 2006 so will not see any replies to her.