Story highlights
- Creased earlobes and clubbed fingernails are linked to higher heart disease risk
Heart disease risk may show in your earlobes, eyes, fingers
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Photos: Unusual signs that you may have heart disease
Studies have shown that there is an association with Frank's sign, the visible external crease on the earlobe, and increased risk of atherosclerosis, a disease in which plaque builds up inside your arteries.
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Photos: Unusual signs that you may have heart disease
Yellow, fatty bumps known as xanthomas can appear on the elbows, knees, buttocks or eyelids. The bumps themselves are harmless, but they can be a sign of bigger problems.
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Photos: Unusual signs that you may have heart disease
A phenomenon known as digital clubbing may also be a sign that all is not well with your heart. The fingernails change shape, becoming thicker and wider.
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Photos: Unusual signs that you may have heart disease
Fat deposits may also be seen as a gray ring around the outside of the iris, the colored part of the eye.
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Photos: Unusual signs that you may have heart disease
Studies have shown that tooth loss and inflamed gums (periodontitis) are markers of heart disease.
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Photos: Unusual signs that you may have heart disease
The lips are usually red, but they can take on a bluish color (cyanosis) in people with heart problems due to the failure of the cardiovascular system to deliver oxygenated blood to tissues.
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