Citation

Bansal YS, Singh D. Med. Legal Update 2011; 11(1): 83-85.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, R.K. Sharma and Institute of Medico-Legal Publications)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

Even with the advancement of science and the highly improved medical and therapeutic facilities available in the modern world, the incidence of unnatural deaths has only increased spirally. Various factors have been analysed to unveil the reasons behind. Serum cholesterol levels have been found to be associated with an increase in the incidence of violent deaths, particularly suicides. This study was undertaken with an aim to establish a correlation between serum cholesterol levels and unnatural deaths in the Chandigarh Zone of North West India. A total of 358 cases and 45 healthy volunteers were studied. Seventy eight percent of the cases under study were of deaths due to accident, 18% were suicides and 4% were homicides. The mean serum cholesterol levels were 101.2 mg% in accidental deaths, 98.5 mg% in suicides and 88 mg% in homicides; however the levels in the controls were 176.6 mg%. Cases of homicidal deaths in the age group 40 - 49 yrs exhibited the least mean serum cholesterol levels of 69.9 mg%.

Language: en

Keywords

Accidents; adult; human; homicide; suicide; burn; female; male; accident; injury; India; Unnatural deaths; incidence; autopsy; Suicides; traffic accident; suicide attempt; obesity; article; comparative study; major clinical study; controlled study; disease association; cholesterol blood level; cholesterol; Homicides; follow up; coronary artery disease; hypertension; prospective study; diabetes mellitus; metabolic disorder; Serum cholesterol