Why your crow’s feet could be a death sentence

Beauty may only be skin deep. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t concern yourself with wrinkles. In fact, they could tell you a lot about the state of your health.

As part of a recent study, researchers assessed the perceived age of over 500 men and women in their early 60s. They did this by evaluating both facial appearance and skin wrinkling in the inner arm. (A place that isn’t as vulnerable to sun damage.)

Results showed that women who had the lowest risk of heart disease also looked younger-by about two years, to be exact. And healthy blood pressure levels seemed to be the common thread between a youthful appearance and cardiovascular health.

Further analysis showed that men from long-living families also benefited from a younger appearance than peers of the same age. Meanwhile, both women and men with a family history of longevity had less upper arm wrinkling than control subjects of the same age.

The moral of the story: People who look younger tend to be healthier, simple as that. So there’s no question that the war on wrinkles is worth fighting.

We’re just doing it all wrong.

At the end of the day, Botox won’t prevent heart disease. Only regular exercise and my J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2013 Feb;68(2):145-52.