Nearly 50 years after his death, a new study suggests martial arts icon Bruce Lee died from drinking too much water.
The "Enter the Dragon" actor collapsed and died July 20, 1973, in Hong Kong. He was 32 at the time.
Initially diagnosed as suffering from a cerebral edema, Lee's death has been the subject of conspiracy fodder, from assassination to heatstroke.
But the authors of a study published in the December edition of the Clinical Kidney Journal assert that Lee had "multiple risk factors" for hyponatraemia, or a below-normal sodium level in the blood, citing his "chronic fluid intake," marijuana use and documented factors that could have interfered with his kidney's function, including prescription drug and alcohol consumption.
"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 study 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. Given that hyponatraemia is frequent, as is found in up to 40% of hospitalized persons and may cause death due to excessive water ingestion even in young healthy persons, there is a need for a wider dissemination of the concept that excessive water intake can kill."
