David Beckham, who is arguably one of the most well-recognized athletes of his generation, seems to have caught the eye of a medical professional.
Keep reading to learn more.
A doctor has made a startling observation regarding footballer David Beckham’s health. The athlete, according to the doctor, has a diagonal wrinkle on his right earlobe, commonly known as ‘Frank’s Crease’.
The feature, according to studies, is typically associated with atherosclerosis, a condition in which a person’s blood vessels are lined with fatty matter.
The Lithuanian cardiologist named Rokas Šerpytis who had the hunch, then looked at Beckham’s family history only to find out that life-threatening cardiac events are prevalent in his family’s medical history.
“I’m not going to call D. Beckham and ask if he’s had tests. But you could look at his parents,” the cardiologist stated.
“I typed ‘heart attack’ and ‘Beckham’s dad’ into the search engine and got an article: the footballer is traveling to England to visit his 59-year-old father in the hospital after a heart attack,” he shared.
He found that in September 26, 2007, the senior David Beckham was rushed to a hospital. At the time, it was reported that the 59-year-old underwent an operation to unblock his arteries and that his condition following the procedure was ‘stable’.
The observation made by Šerpytis is based on a study conducted in 1973. The earlobe anomaly is known as a diagonal earlobe crease (DELC). The study he relies on by Dr Sanders T. Frank observed 20 patients in 1973.
A 2021 Oxford study described DELC as a “dermatological marker for coronary artery disease” and also called it a “useful clinical sign” for the latter condition.
In the 2021 paper, the condition was described as a crease that “extends backwards from the tragus (the pointed piece of cartilage located at the front of the ear canal) at an angle of 45 degree across the lobule to the ear edge of the auricle (the entire visible ear).”
But “it does not provide a conclusive relationship,” the paper went on to say.
While some may pay heed to it, others like the Chief Cardiologist-Emeritus at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, Dr Paul D. Thompson, do not pay it any attention at all.
The doctor spoke to the media and stated that while he recalls the topic being brought up in medical school, “I don’t think serious preventive cardiologists give it much credence,” he elaborated. “I don’t.”
Speaking exclusively to Bored Panda, the doctor who publishes under 500 Rules of Cardiology on Substack observed that the topic was touched in medical school between 1973 and 1975, he did not really think it was too important. He said, “I don’t think serious preventive cardiologists give it much credence.”
“I don’t look for it, don’t write about it in my patient notes, etc. There are much better measurements including the standard,” he shared as to how he diagnoses medical problems.
Dr. Thompson shared that according to his career and experience, he was unable to make a connection between the ear crease and heart issues.
“I also cannot make up a good physiological reason why it would have medical significance. Could be wrong, but you asked for my thoughts,” he said
David Beckham turned 50 years old this year, so his health must be given more attention, of course.
Twenty percent of people under 40 years old have been observed to have the earlobe feature, while in 75 percent of people over 60, the feature is 75 present. Out of that, according to the CDC, only 10 percent faced heart disease.
While the warning might not be as dire, Šerpytis does warn David Beckham, saying, “David himself is now 50 years old, a time when it would be very useful to take care of his health and adjust risk factors.”
