India, July 31 -- In 2023, high LDL or 'bad' cholesterol was responsible for 3.6 million deaths -- 6 per cent of all deaths -- and 90.7 million years of healthy life lost, with one-third of the global LDL-C burden occurring in India and China, according to a study.

Findings published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) show that absolute LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) burden has increased since 1990 due to demographic changes and shifted towards middle-sociodemographic countries, with population growth and ageing driving the increasing burden, researchers said.

"Despite declining age-standardised rates, the absolute LDL-C burden has increased since 1990 due to demographic changes and has shifted toward middle-sociodemogra...