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NEW DELHI: While people across the globe are living longer, they are spending more time recovering from sickness. The reasons are non-fatal illnesses and injuries such as diabetes and hearing loss which pose the next major threat in terms of disease burden, says the latest study by a consortium of international researchers.In India, diabetes and other musculoskeletal disorders have replaced diarrheal diseases and vision problems as leading causes of years lived with disability (YLDs) - a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health.Between 1990 and 2013, years lived with disability among women with diabetes increased by 109%, whereas from other musculoskeletal disorders increased by 110% in India. However, iron-deficiency anemia decreased by 12%. Diabetes YLDs also increased for men in India between 1990 and 2013, climbing 136%. Among men, YLDs from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increased by 76%, and iron-deficiency anemia YLDs decreased by 32%.The study says countries around the world may have made significant progress in addressing fatal diseases, but globally the years lived by people with disability increased from 537.6 million in 1990 to 764.8 million in 2013, for both sexes.The study was conducted by researchers working on the Global Burden of Disease project and led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. It was published in The Lancet on June 8.“With success in delaying death, the years of life lived with ill-health are increasing. For example, this has more than doubled in India for diabetes over the past two decades. Accurate understanding of the causes of ill-health is crucial for planning of appropriate health services,” Lalit Dandona, study co-author and professor at Public Health Foundation of India said.Apart from diabetes, migraines, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), neck pain, anxiety disorder and hearing loss were among the 10 leading causes of YLDs in 2013.