Arcus and xanthelasma

A few weeks back the British Medical Journal published the results of a major Danish study looking at the significance of xanthelasmata (singular 'xanthelasma'), the flat yellow plaques occasionaly found around the eye lids of patients. The researchers surveyed 12.745 people who had participated in the Copenhagen City Heart Study. The participants were aged between 20 and 93 years and were free of heart disease when the study began. The study participants had tracked since 1976 until May 2009. At the beginning of the study 563 (4.4%) participants had xanthelasma and 3.159 (24.8%) had arcus. During follow-up, 1.872 participants suffered a heart attack, 3.699 developed heart disease, 1498 a stroke, 1815 a cerebrovascular disease and 8,507 died. The results show that in all age groups, and both for men as for women, the risk of suffering a heart attack, to develop a heart disease or die within ten years increased in individuals with xanthelasma. This increased risk is independent of other risk factors as sex, smoking, obesity or high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The highest risks were found in men between the ages of 70 and 79 years.