Earlobes are generally smooth regardless of size, color, shape and thickness. However, some people have a crease in their earlobe. This line splitting the earlobe in two is also known as “Frank’s Sign”.
It was named after the man who first identified it an important sign rather than a simple line on the skin.
In 1973, Sanford Frank wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine, he explained the possible link between an ear crease and heart disease as found by his research.
Ear Crease And Heart Disease
A number of other studies have later been carried out in this field, and most of them support Frank’s research. However, none of the studies has definitively determined why heart disease is possibly linked with the earlobe crease.
One theory includes that lack of blood flow to the ears leads to the formation of the lobe wrinkle because if the blood can’t get through to the ears, there’s probably a blockage somewhere in the body.
Another theory states that weakening of elastin and collagen fibers in the ears also indicates a similar weakening of coronary arteries. The thing is the coronary arteries end at the ears meaning that vascular disease in this part of the body points toward a vascular disease further up the line.
Other Theories
According to a Japanese study, a diagonal earlobe crease (DELC) is the result of shortened cell telomeres, areas at the end of each strand of DNA protecting cells from damage. Short telomeres are often related to metabolic syndrome. As the study found, DELC “might be a useful indirect marker of high-risk patients.”
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