LDL cholesterol responsible for 3.6 million deaths worldwide in 2023

A global study quantified the burden of heart attacks and ischemic strokes attributable to elevated low‑density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol from 1990 to 2023. Using data from 204 countries and more than 4.7 billion adults, the researchers estimated that high LDL caused 90.7 million lost healthy life years in 2023. The excess LDL was linked to roughly a third of all heart‑attack deaths (about 2.7 million) and 27 % of ischemic‑stroke deaths, amounting to 3.6 million total deaths.

Although age‑standardised mortality rates fell by 45.6 % since 1990, the absolute number of deaths rose 39 % due to population growth and ageing. Europe recorded the highest age‑standardised rates, while high‑income Asia‑Pacific regions had the lowest. About one‑third of the global burden was concentrated in India and China. In Latin America, absolute cardiovascular deaths rose by around 80 % between 1990 and 2023, with Central American and Caribbean nations showing stagnant or minimal progress, contrasted by improvements in Colombia and Costa Rica.