Yellow Markings Near Eyelids Could Be Sign Of Future Heart Attack

A new study has identified a seemingly unlikely possible sign of an upcoming heart attack: a yellow, raised marking on the eyelid calledxanthelasmata.

Denmark researchers found that people with xanthelasmata were 48 percentmore likely to have a heart attackthan people without the marking. Their finding was published in theBritish Medical Journal.

Can't picture what xanthelasmata looks like?MSNBCprovidedthis linkto some photos.

The marking is actually abuild-up of cholesterol, and could be a sign of build-up of other fatty substances elsewhere in the body that could lead to a heart attack, BBC News reported.

In the study, researchers looked at health data from 12,745 people who were part of the Copenhagen City Heart Study. At the start of the study, 4.4 percent of them had xanthelasmata.

After 33 years, researchers found that 1,872 of the people had a heart attack, 3,699 people developed heart disease and 8,507 people died. People with xanthelasmata were 39 percent more likely to develop heart disease and 14 percent more likely to die over the study period, according to the findings.

The xanthelasmata was able topredict heart problemseven after taking out factors like cholesterol and obesity, MSNBC reported.

MSNBC reports:

The authors argue that this finding could have real clinical implications since the patches are usually regarded by those who have them as a benign dermatological issue.

Some other hiddensigns of future heart disease? Sleeping too much or too little, gum disease, irregular periods and fatigue, according toHeart Healthy Living.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.