Is it true that Bruce Lee died because he drank too much water?

The media reported that the real cause of death of actor Bruce Lee had become known - he drank too much water and developed hyponatremia. We decided to check if this is true.

Sensational news about the allegedly established cause of Bruce Lee's death was written by the largest Russian news publications - “Gazeta.ru", "Moskovsky Komsomolets", "TASS", RTVI, Lenta.ru, "Snob", "Komsomolskaya Pravda", "Constantinople"and others. We did not ignore news thematic movie portals. They write about it and popular science and educational publications.

Actor and martial artist Bruce Lee died in 1973 at the age of 32. The official cause of death, released by doctors at the time, was cerebral swelling due to an allergic reaction to a headache medicine. The death of a young and healthy (at least outwardly) man was considered mysterious by many. Over the past decades, fans have managed to build a lot theories around the cause of his death - from murder by a jealous lover, the Chinese mafia or greedy business partners to drugs and even a family curse. Matthew Polley, author biographies Lee, released in 2018, claimed that the actor died due to heatstroke caused by his lack of sweat glands, which he had previously removed to look better on camera.

In 2022, Spanish scientists put forward their version happened - they believe that Bruce Lee drank too much water, which is why he developed hyponatremia (too low levels of sodium in the body, which can cause swelling of the brain in severe cases). We already wrote about this condition. It can actually occur due to a large amount of water drunk, which for some reason is not excreted from the body. That is why you should not try to force yourself to drink those same notorious 2 liters of water a day if you are not thirsty. Lethal cases hyponatremia is not very common, but is still possible.

Scientists took one of these cases as an example in their study. In 2007, one of the American radio stations held contest, during which you had to drink the maximum amount of water without visiting the toilet. As a result, one of the participants died, and several others suffered serious health problems. With the symptoms of the same dead girl, researchers and compare Lee's condition. So, they both had headaches, difficulty walking, weakness and dizziness, vomiting and finally death within a few hours of the first symptoms appearing.

Researchers believe that the actor had several risk factors for hyponatremia, namely: kidney injuries (which may have prevented them from eliminating fluid in a timely manner), marijuana use, which can cause thirst, and medications that can retain fluid in the body. In addition, with reference to the same biography of Polly, the researchers indicate that there is evidence of Lee repeatedly drinking liquid on the day of his death.

This theory has a right to exist, like many others. However, it is worth noting that the scientists did not provide any new evidence that could somehow confirm this hypothesis. About 50 years have passed since Lee's death, so relying on eyewitness memories of the amount of water he drank that day is rather strange. The scientists' conclusions, according to their own testimony, are based on open data (judging by the links in the text - mainly on the 2018 biography), and not, for example, on exhumation and re-autopsy, which could really shed some light on the circumstances of his death.

Cover photo: Enter the Dragon, 1973

This is not accurate

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Is it true that an adult needs to drink 2 liters, or eight glasses, of water a day?
2. Is it true that the water treatment method works?
3. Did Bruce Lee say: “True strength lies in sitting back and observing everything with your mind”?
4. Is the video of Bruce Lee playing ping pong with nunchucks true?