A yellow mark above the eyelids is an indication of possible increase of heart attack and illness risk in both men and women.

The researchers of Herlev Hospital, Denmark studied 12,745 people from 1976 to 2009, who had xanthelasmata and thirty three years later, they discovered that out of them 8,507 died, 1,872 had heart attack, and 3,699 had developed heart diseases.

The yellow marking, xanthelasmata, is built up of cholesterol in the walls of arteries and leads to stroke and heart attack.

The study published on the journal BMJ states that 48 percent patients with it were more likely to have a heart attack and heart diseases and 14 percent were more likely to have died during the study. The data also showed that one of every five persons, who have xanthelasmata, is at high risk of developing heart diseases in the next decade.

The authors of the study told BBC that generally people get their xanthelasmata removed for cosmic reasons; however, such patients should make changes in their lifestyle to reduce excess cholesterol, and take preventive measures and treatments before any problem aggravates.

The researchers said that xanthelasmata predicts risk of myocardial infarction, ischaemic heart diseases that are caused due to reduced blood supply, high cholesterol and severe atherosclerosis, and even death in the general population.

Medicine