Bruce Lee, one of the greatest martial artists of all time on the screen, died suddenly at the age of 32 on July 20, 1973. The mystery surrounding his unexpected death has spawned a lot of crazy conspiracy theories. But a new analysis suggests the “Little Dragon” may have died from drinking too much water. While this proposed cause of death is speculative and unconfirmed, it may be ironic for a figure whose iconic slogan “be like water” helped popularize Eastern philosophy.
To arrive at their conclusions, the study’s authors set out by reviewing the known facts about Lee’s death. For example, it was documented that the famous actor experienced a headache and dizziness at around 7:30 p.m. shortly after drinking marijuana and water. He then took a painkiller, but was found unresponsive two hours later.
An autopsy revealed that his brain had swelled to 1,575 grams, well over the average 1,400 grams. Therefore, previous determinations concluded that Lee died of a type of swelling called cerebral edema caused by an overreaction to the drug in question.
But the study authors point out that he only took the drug after experiencing headaches and dizziness, suggesting that his brain started swelling before he threw the pill. Furthermore, they say, “If hypersensitivity to Equagesic were indeed the cause of death, cerebral edema would not be expected to be the only autopsy finding.”
“We now propose, based on analysis of publicly available information, that the cause of death was cerebral edema due to hyponatremia. In other words, we suggest that Bruce Lee was killed by the kidney’s inability to excrete excess water,” the researchers write.
What is hyponatremia? Bruce Lee’s cause of death was hyponatremia?
Hyponatremia occurs when fluid intake exceeds the kidneys’ capacity to filter water from the blood. It usually occurs when a person drinks large amounts of water in a very short period of time, and although there is no evidence that Lee does this sort of thing, the study’s authors note that he may have “multiple risk factors for hyponatremia” and therefore “much lower water intake”. He says he may have developed the “burden from drinking”.
For example, they note several allegations by Lee’s wife and doctors that the actor forgoes solid food and survived only on carrots and apple juice. Known as the “tea and toast diet,” this low-soluble eating regimen may have significantly increased Lee’s chances of developing hyponatremia.
It is also known that the star uses diuretics to remove sodium from her body and make her muscles appear more bloated. Sources close to Lee also claim that Lee began drinking “ten to twenty ceramic bottles of sake” a day in the last months of his life.
Taking these lifestyle factors into account, the researchers say Lee likely suffered from cerebral edema when he started vomiting, fainting and convulsing two months before his death. Although she survived the event and was not diagnosed with hyponatremia at the time, the study’s authors suggest that this unexplained illness may be a harbinger of things to come.
“In summary, Lee had multiple risk factors predisposing to hyponatremia resulting from interference with water homeostasis mechanisms that regulate both water intake and water excretion,” they say. “We hypothesize that Bruce Lee died of a specific renal dysfunction: to maintain water homeostasis. inability to secrete enough water.”
The article was published in the Clinical Kidney Journal…
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