I enjoyed the editorial on the association of asthma and obesity by Wilson and Irwin.1 The authors referred to the association between diagonal earlobe crease (DEC) and coronary artery disease (CAD) as an example of unrecognized or unappreciated cofactors.
Ever since the first report suggesting a connection between the DEC and CAD was published in 1973,2 numerous studies have been done throughout the world to investigate this association.3 Unfortunately, most studies have included elderly subjects. A large study from China involving 3155 persons4 concluded that DEC was a phenomenon of age and had no predictive significance for CAD in the aged population.5-7 Therefore, more studies with larger numbers of patients are required to either suggest or refute the possible association between asthma and obesity.