DARUHARIDRA, GUGGUL, AND TRIKATU: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW THEIR EFFICACY IN COMBATING CHOLESTEROL, HYPERLIPIDEMIA, AND OBESITY

1.1 Hyperlipidemia as a problemIn India, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death, accounting for 63% of all deaths, according to WHO’s 2018 NCD India profile. Cardiovascular diseases (27%), chronic respiratory diseases (11%), cancers (9%), diabetes (3%), and obesity (13%) are the other leading causes. Hyper- lipidemia is a health condition which results in the chronic elevation of cholesterol, triglycerides and phospholipids. Due to this elevated lipids content in the blood it will get deposited in the walls of arteries. This acts as a precursor for many hazardous health dis- eases such as Atherosclerosis, heart attack, strokes, etc. Overall deaths due to elevated levels of cholesterol are found to be 2.6mil- lion deaths and 29.7 million disabilities. The food source of cholesterol are from high-fat dairy products like milk, cream, yogurt, butter and ghee, etc. Cholesterol comprises two types: low-den- sitylipopro-teins (LDL) and high- density lipoproteins (HDL). LDL is known as ‘bad’ cholesterol and can cause conditions like strokes, carotid artery disease, and peripheral arterial disease.