Hypoglycemia - A Role in Criminal Behavior and a Consideration for Custodial Care

LONDON, February 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest issue of the journal Diabetic Hypoglycemia ( http://www.hypodiab.com) reviews the role of hypoglycemia in provoking crimes and misdemeanors.

Professor Vincent Marks, a leading authority on the forensic aspects of hypoglycemia and its role in criminal behavior, discusses how hypoglycemia-related neuroglycopenia can cause behavioral changes, which can bring people with diabetes into conflict with the law. "Hypoglycemia was recognized as a cause of strange behavior that amounted in some cases to criminality, within a few years of the introduction of insulin for treatment of diabetes", comments Professor Marks. He raises the question of whether a person suffering from neuroglycopenia can formulate the intention to commit an offence, going on to outline the medico-legal relevance of hypoglycemia, and to discuss the less common offence of malicious administration of insulin and/or a sulfonylurea as a weapon to induce hypoglycemic coma.

Professor Brian Frier's related editorial describes the problem of managing diabetes in people in police custody or long-term imprisonment. Highlighting the fact that custodial conditions can be conducive to the development of hypoglycemia in people with diabetes, Professor Frier suggests that greater communication between diabetes specialist services and the police and prison services should be encouraged, to assist their understanding of this medical disorder and avoid the development of significant hypoglycemia and perpetuation of suboptimal glycemic control in such situations.

About Diabetic Hypoglycemia

We are pleased to announce that Diabetic Hypoglycemia will be indexed in Elsevier's prestigious EMBASE database, from 2010.

Diabetic Hypoglycemia is an influential online diabetes journal led by Editor-in-Chief Professor Brian Frier (Edinburgh, UK), with Associate Editors: Professor Simon Heller (Sheffield, UK), Professor Christopher Ryan (Pittsburgh, USA) and Dr Rory McCrimmon (Dundee, UK). Published three times annually, Diabetic Hypoglycemia provides an interactive forum for the sharing of practical knowledge and opinions in the field of hypoglycemia.

To explore Diabetic Hypoglycemia, please take the guided tour: http://www.hypodiab.com/Teaser/hypodiab.html.

Diabetic Hypoglycemia is published by ESP Bioscience, supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Novo Nordisk A/S (Bagsvaerd, Denmark).

About ESP Bioscience

ESP Bioscience is a publisher of novel medical information products and online medical communities, with headquarters in Sandhurst, United Kingdom. Working in association with its academic partners in the global healthcare community, ESP Bioscience publishes journals, books and online resources.

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SOURCE ESP Bioscience