If you want to know your risk of developing heart disease, check your hairline.

A new study has found that visible signs of ageing, such as a receding hairline and baldness, are associated with an increased risk of heart disease.

Danish scientists looked at almost 11,000 men and women aged 40 and older. Over a 35-year period, over 3,400 developed heart disease, while more than 1,700 had heart attacks.

The scientists found four signs of ageing associated with heart disease risk - a receding hairline at the temple, baldness on the crown, creasing in the earlobes and fatty deposits around the eye.

The study showed that people who had three or four of these ageing signs had a 57% increased risk of suffering a heart attack and a 39% increased risk of developing heart disease.

The strongest individual predictor of both heart disease and attacks was fatty deposits around the eye, although the highest overall risk was found in those in their 70s who displayed multiple signs of ageing.

"The visible signs of ageing reflect physiologic or biological age, not chronological age...Checking these visible ageing signs should be a routine part of every doctor's physical examination," the team from the University of Copenhagen said.

Details of these findings were presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.

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