Earlobe creases

[CB1]

Does anyone know if the research suggesting that earlobe creases are an indicator for heart disease is reliable or not? If so, can anyone explain why a crease in the earlobe means you are more likely to have a heart attack. I can find plenty of sources from google, but have no way or knowing if the sources are reliable or not.

Cheers

CB

[kellyb]

What research?

[CB1]

If you put it in google, many pages are citing studies carried out dating back to 1973. Like I said, I will not assume any of them are genuine, mean anything or whether or not that prove what they suggest they do. Lots of research digs up studies saying it is true, but I can't find anything suggesting a) that it isn't true or b) that it's all a load of rubbish because of xyz. My "dodgy evidence" radar is twitching, but know nothing about the subject so do not feel qualified to judge.

Any help appreciated.

Cheers

CB

[fls]

Here are a couple of studies that look at the reliability/usefulness of the association.

http://www.amjforensicmedicine.com/pt/re/ajfmp/abstract.00000433-200606000-00008.htm;jsessionid=GMLLhn1GYlY09sG7wbgyfyMQ8GwnQ mK11cKCyk7HPWyWy7r77DHv!-362743511!181195628!8091!-1

http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=ShowAbstract&ArtikelNr=80847&Ausgabe=230441&ProduktNr=224164

The positive predictive value means, "of those who have the crease, how many have heart disease". The crease is probably the result of something else that also happens to influence the development of heart disease. You could hypothesize that age and increasing weight lead to skin changes and heart disease. However, the first study found that skin creases were still associated with heart disease even after taking weight and age into account.

Linda

[CB1]

Thanks, they were very useful.

I have a crease in the lobe of one of my ears. Something I have only spotted in the last year. I have no idea how long it has been there. Rather interestingly, I also noticed when watching "Enemies of Reason" this week, that Richard Dawkins also has a crease in his right ear. If the crease is fairly common, then it seems hard to link it to heart disease, but that is what the studies appear to be showing. It would be interesting to see if anyone know's where the general medical consensus on the matter is at the moment, and also why a crease = heart disease.

Cheers

CB

[Hardenbergh]

Why do statues of Buddha have long earlobes? Have you noticed that people's ears get bigger and their earlobes get longer and curl as they age?

The earlobes are elongated, partly to indicate the Buddha is all-hearing and partly as a reminder of the heavy earrings that weighed them down before Siddhartha renounced material things to seek enlightenment.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/070706.html

http://www.namasteboston.com/wed/images/jewelry/zc51.jpg