‘Buffy,’ ‘Gossip Girl’ star Michelle Trachtenberg cause of death revealed

Last February, Trachtenberg was found unconscious and unresponsive in her New York City apartment by her mother Lana.

Emergency medical workers pronounced her dead without giving a cause. Police said foul play was not suspected. Trachtenberg was 39 years old.

Laboratory test results from the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner reported the actress died of natural causes due to complications from diabetes mellitus.

The office previously said Trachtenberg’s cause of death would be ruled as “undetermined” as her family declined an autopsy of her remains for religious reasons.

However the new toxicology results, done without an autopsy, led to an amendment of the cause of death.

Related: Michelle Trachtenberg’s family declines autopsy for religious reasons

Media outlets ABC News and NBC News reported at the time of Trachtenberg’s death that she had undergone a liver transplant according to anonymous sources.

John Hopkins Medicine defines diabetes mellitus, another name for diabetes, as a condition that affects insulin and the body does not process food as energy properly.

“When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t respond to insulin or doesn’t produce insulin at all,” John Hopkins Medicine explained. “This causes sugars to build up in your blood, which puts you at risk of dangerous complications.”

St. Luke’s Medical Center said diabetes is a leading cause of death in the Philippines. In 2019 around 7.2% of the population were diagnosed with diabetes while another 14.2% were diagnosed as prediabetic (a person’s blood sugar is higher than normal, but not high enough to be considered as diabetes).

Trachtenberg is also known for her roles in the movies “Harriet the Spy,” “Ice Princess,” and “EuroTrip.”

— Kristofer Purnell