‘Gossip Girl’ actress Michelle Trachtenberg dead at 39
Actress Michelle Trachtenberg, known for her role in “Gossip Girl,” was found dead in a New York City luxury apartment building by the NYPD. She was 39.
Nearly two months after Michelle Trachtenberg’s death at 39 years old, officials have issued a ruling on her cause of death.
On Wednesday, New York City’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner released a statement announcing the cause and manner of the “Gossip Girl” actor’s Feb. 26 death as complications of diabetes mellitus. The manner was determined to be natural.
The office previously said in February that the cause and manner were “undetermined.”
Trachtenberg was found dead in a New York City luxury apartment building at 8 a.m. Feb. 26, a spokesperson for the New York Police Department previously confirmed to USA TODAY. Upon arriving at her unit, officers found a 39-year-old woman unconscious and unresponsive; EMS officials responded to the scene and found the actress dead.
The New York City-born star started her career at 3 in television commercials and rose to fame as a child star. She later found success in television and movie roles throughout the aughts and beyond.
Trachtenberg was a 2000s TV mainstay with memorable roles in “Gossip Girl,” “Harriet the Spy” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
What is diabetes mellitus?
There are several categories of diabetes, including Type 1, Type 2, gestational diabetes, Neonatal diabetes and maturity-onset diabetes of the young.
Diabetes mellitus, the full name for the disease characterized by inadequate control of glucose levels in a person’s blood, affects around 38 million people in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This equates to around one in 10 people, and approximately one in five people do not know they have the chronic illness.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that “occurs when some or all of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are destroyed,” Harvard Medical School’s website explains. In the absence of insulin, “sugar accumulates in the bloodstream rather than entering the cells” and causes “excessive urination and dehydration” and also causes tissue damage.
The CDC estimates that between 5-10% of people with diabetes are diagnosed with Type 1. People of all ages can receive a diagnosis, and there are no known prevention methods.
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance, meaning cells resist “the normal effect of insulin, which is to drive glucose in the blood into the inside of the cells,” per Harvard Health Publishing. This causes glucose to build up in the blood. Type 2 diabetes, which affects around 90-95% of diabetes patients, can also develop at any age.
Risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes include family history, having prediabetes or gestational diabetes, being over the age of 45 and being overweight or having obesity.
Contributing: Jay Stahl, USA TODAY
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