The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 2023
The ICMR-INDIAB study found dyslipidaemia — an abnormality in blood lipids — in 81.2% of the Indian adults it sampled. It is the single most prevalent finding in the largest metabolic survey ever conducted in India, and the great majority of those affected had never been informed. Dyslipidaemia is not a disease in itself but a risk state, and its consequences are cardiovascular: India records 28.1% of all deaths as cardiovascular, up from 15.2% in 1990, with 53.4% of those deaths occurring before the age of 70. High cholesterol alone accounts for an estimated 29.4% of the national cardiovascular burden. The gap between how common the abnormality is and how rarely it is communicated is the practical finding here, and it is one a blood test resolves.
Dyslipidaemia covers any abnormality in the lipid panel: raised LDL cholesterol, raised triglycerides, low HDL, or a combination. ICMR-INDIAB found at least one such abnormality in 81.2% of the adults it sampled.
A prevalence that high changes what a "normal" report signifies. When four in five adults have an abnormality, the reference ranges built from that population describe what is common rather than what is healthy — and a result inside them is weaker reassurance than it appears.
Because the outcome arrives earlier. GBD India data published in The Lancet Global Health found that 53.4% of Indian cardiovascular deaths occur before the age of 70, against a much lower proportion in high-income countries. Cardiovascular disease in India is substantially a disease of working age.
The same analysis attributes 29.4% of India's cardiovascular burden to high cholesterol alone — the single largest identified contributor, and one of the most modifiable.
Incompletely. A standard panel reports total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglycerides, all of which measure the amount of cholesterol carried rather than the number of particles carrying it. ApoB counts those particles directly, and Lp(a) captures an inherited component that is more common in South Asian populations and appears on no routine panel.
The practical consequence is that a person can hold a normal-looking lipid report while carrying a high particle count and an elevated inherited risk, neither of which was measured.
Yes. Prevalence and normality are different things. A finding can be common and still carry risk, and reference ranges derived from a population in which most people have the abnormality will describe the abnormality as unremarkable. That is precisely the trap here.
ApoB is the most informative single measure of atherogenic risk, because it counts the particles capable of lodging in an artery wall rather than weighing the cholesterol inside them. Lp(a) is worth measuring once, since it is inherited, more common in South Asians and invisible on standard panels.
15.3% — The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 2023
53.4% — The Lancet Global Health, 2018
The programme
Peak Brain draws a full blood and urine panel at your home, has a licensed physician read every marker together rather than one at a time, and turns what they find into a ranked 90-day protocol with a retest at the end.
Authorship & review
Written by the Peak Brain clinical team. Assigned clinical reviewer: Dr. Nitesh Arora, MD, DM — review pending; this page has not yet been signed off.
Published . Last updated .
This page is general health information, not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Reference ranges vary between laboratories. Never delay or disregard advice from a qualified health professional because of something you read here. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your local emergency number.