Bruce Lee had a sudden death at age 32 due to drinking too much water, suggests new study
In the study, published in the Clinical Kidney Journal, a group of researchers said that the martial artist died suddenly at a young age because his kidneys were unable to eliminate extra water. A new study released after over 50 years of celebrated martial artist and actor Bruce Lee’s death has claimed that the cause of his demise was cerebral oedema or brain swelling, which earlier was thought to be a reaction to a painkiller he had taken. However, it is now found that the cause was “kidney’s inability to excrete excess water” that led to his untimely death at the age of 32. The study was conducted by a group of kidney specialists in Spain and was published last year in December 2022 edition of the Clinical Kidney Journal.
The specialists proposed that the kidney’s inability to excrete excess water killed Bruce Lee. They added that Lee possessed “multiple risk factors for hyponatraemia” (low level of sodium in blood). The study’s authors even mentioned that Lee was most probably consuming high quantities of liquid due to his fluid diet, which consisted of a lot of juices and protein drinks, and the use of marijuana that induces increased thirst.
The researchers wrote that Lee had multiple risk factors predisposing him to hyponatraemia resulting from interference with water homeostasis mechanisms that regulate both water intake and water excretion. “We hypothesize that Bruce Lee died from a specific form of kidney dysfunction: the inability to excrete enough water to maintain water homeostasis.” According to them, the dysfunction 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 study was concluded with the researchers saying that the fact that we are 60 percent 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.”
A medical journal said that drinking too much can lead to water intoxication and serious health consequences. Water intoxication is a disruption of brain function caused by drinking too much water. The excess water taken in dilutes sodium in the blood and causes fluids to move inside cells, causing them to swell. The swelling inside the skull can sometimes in severe cases, also become fatal, Medical News Today said.