Bruce Lee’s death caused by drinking too much water, new study says
By
Mallika Soni
Nov 22, 2022 12:02 PM IST
Bruce Lee’s Death: Since his death, several theories have been put forward including assassination by Chinese gangsters or that he died from heatstroke.
Martial arts legend Bruce Lee may have died from drinking too much water, a study reported by Sky News suggested. Bruce Lee passed away aged 32 in Hong Kong in July 1973. The autopsy showed that he died from cerebral oedema, or brain swelling, which was thought to be a reaction to a painkiller he had taken.
Bruce Lee’s Death: Bruce Lee at the Madame Tussauds museum in San Francisco.(Shutterstock)
But since his death, several theories have been put forward including assassination by Chinese gangsters or that he died from heatstroke.
However, researchers have now suggested that the oedema which killed him may have been brought on by hyponatraemia.
"In other words, we propose that the kidney's inability to excrete excess water killed Bruce Lee," the team of researchers wrote in the Clinical kidney journal adding that several factors suggest he had been consuming high quantities of water, such as his wife Linda referring to a fluid-based diet and his biographer, Matthew Polly, repeatedly referring to water intake on the day of his death.
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"We suggest that the fact that water intake was repeatedly noticed when it is such a commonplace activity that might have been forgotten given the exceptional circumstances means that it was indeed noticeably higher than the intake of other persons present on the day that Lee died," the researchers wrote.
Bruce Lee also used cannabis, which causes increase in thirst, and is known to have taken the drug throughout the day he died.
"In conclusion, we hypothesize that Bruce Lee died from a specific form of kidney dysfunction: the inability to excrete enough water to maintain water homeostasis, which is mainly a tubular function," the researchers said.
“This may lead to hyponatraemia, cerebral oedema and death within hours if excess water intake is not matched by water excretion in urine, which is in line with the timeline of Lee's demise. The fact that we are 60% water does not protect us from the potentially lethal consequences of drinking water at a faster rate than our kidneys can excrete excess water. Ironically, Lee made famous the quote 'Be water my friend', but excess water appears to have ultimately killed him,” they added.
