STATISTICAL ANALYSIS REGARDING THE MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY OF DIABETES IN ROMANIA - FORENSIC PERSPECTIVE
N. Gîrlescu, E. G. Botnariu, E. C. Coculescu, A. D. Timofte, A. I. Ciureanu, D. B. Iliescu,
Abstract: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder being considered a real health problem. In low and middle income countries, diabetes is often inadequately treated and undiagnosed due to lack of awareness of the symptoms and limited access to healthcare services. Thus far, no analysis of deaths among diabetics has been performed from a forensic perspective. This research analyzed a total of 4.438 cases of autopsy files, by accessing the archive of the Institute of Legal Medicine in Iasi, Romania, over a period of 5 years, identifying 235 cases with DM, of which 7 cases of type 1 DM (3%), 192 cases of type 2 DM (81.7%) and 36 cases of unspecified DM (15.3%). The study includes a complete view with macroscopic, histopathological and toxicological analysis, but also investigation data and medical information. This study offers the first forensic perspective of people known to have DM who died in North-Eastern Romania. The diagnosis of DM was identified in most cases in the content of the autopsy files and never in the death certificate. The number of identified diabetics represents the minimum number in forensic cases for the period and area investigated. Acute diabetic complications were not found in this study as medical cause of death. This research brings into discussion a pathology that in forensic medicine in Romania is disputed and often underestimated, proving once again the importance of studying the carbohydrate metabolic imbalance by applying postmortem biochemistry in every forensic service. Keywords: diabetes mellitus, autopsy, mortality, cause of death.
 is a metabolic disorder being considered a real health problem. In low and middle income countries, diabetes is often inadequately treated and undiagnosed due to lack of awareness of the symptoms and limited access to healthcare services. Thus far, no analysis of deaths among diabetics has been performed from a forensic perspective. This research analyzed a total of 4.438 cases of autopsy files, by accessing the archive of the Institute of Legal Medicine in Iasi, Romania, over a period of 5 years, identifying 235 cases with DM, of which 7 cases of type 1 DM (3%), 192 cases of type 2 DM (81.7%) and 36 cases of unspecified DM (15.3%). The study includes a complete view with macroscopic, histopathological and toxicological analysis, but also investigation data and medical information. This study offers the first forensic perspective of people known to have DM who died in North-Eastern Romania. The diagnosis of DM was identified in most cases in the content of the autopsy files and never in the death certificate. The number of identified diabetics represents the minimum number in forensic cases for the period and area investigated. Acute diabetic complications were not found in this study as medical cause of death. This research brings into discussion a pathology that in forensic medicine in Romania is disputed and often underestimated, proving once again the importance of studying the carbohydrate metabolic imbalance by applying postmortem biochemistry in every forensic service.&redirect_uri=http://rjlm.ro/index.php/arhiv/842)