Death at 33... Official Cause: Cerebral Edema
Suspicions Remain Over Marijuana, Heatstroke, and Excessive Hydration
On July 20, 1973, Bruce Lee (Li Xiaolong·李小龍), the Hong Kong action star who passed away at the age of 33, is marking the 50th anniversary of his death, reigniting various suspicions surrounding his passing.
On the 19th, the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that on the 50th anniversary of Bruce Lee's death, four leading theories about the cause of his death are gaining renewed attention.
Born in San Francisco, USA, in 1940, Bruce Lee spent his youth in Hong Kong before moving between the US and Hong Kong as an action star. He died in Hong Kong on July 20, 1973. SCMP stated, "The world was shocked by Bruce Lee's unexpected death 50 years ago," adding, "Fans still do not know why he died."
Although the official cause of Bruce Lee's death is cerebral edema, suspicions about the cause continue to persist. SCMP pointed out, "Doctors were unable to clearly explain why excessive fluid accumulated in his brain." The article introduced four theories regarding his cause of death: marijuana inhalation, hypersensitivity to aspirin and painkillers (meprobamate), heatstroke, and excessive water intake.
A small amount of marijuana was found in Bruce Lee's small intestine at the time of his death. Two months prior, in May, he fell into a critical condition during the recording of the film Enter the Dragon in Hong Kong and was diagnosed with cerebral edema. It was recalled that he collapsed in the film studio bathroom after inhaling marijuana. Peter Wu, the neurosurgeon who treated him, suggested that marijuana inhalation could have been a potential factor in the cerebral edema.
Shortly before his death, Bruce Lee was at the home of actress Betty Ting, where he complained of severe headaches. At that time, he took aspirin and painkillers given by Ting.
Robert Donald Teare, a prominent pathologist at the University of London, believed that "the aspirin and meprobamate-containing painkillers taken shortly before death could have been the cause of the cerebral edema."
Matthew Polly, the author of Bruce Lee's biography Bruce Lee: A Life, argued that he died of heatstroke. He noted that before his death, Bruce Lee had lost 15% of his body weight due to overwork, weighing only 54 kg.
Additionally, during the recording of Enter the Dragon, the film company turned off the air conditioning to reduce noise in the recording studio, and Bruce Lee exhibited symptoms similar to heatstroke, including high fever, weakness, vomiting, and fainting.
In December of last year, the Clinical Kidney Journal published a theory about excessive water intake.
Researchers from the Medical School of the Autonomous University of Madrid in Spain stated in the paper, "Assuming Bruce Lee died from a specific form of kidney dysfunction, he may have maintained a chronic water intake diet based on alcohol and juice, which could have led to hyponatremia, cerebral edema, and other complications."
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