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Analysis of institutional authors

Nino, MdsAuthorFernandez-Fernandez, BAuthorOrtiz, AAuthorPerez-Gomez, MvCorresponding Author

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May 2, 2022
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Who killed Bruce Lee? The hyponatraemia hypothesis

Publicated to: Clinical Kidney Journal. 15 (12): 2169-2176 - 2022-12-01 15(12), DOI: 10.1093/ckj/sfac071

Authors:

Villalvazo, Priscila; Fernandez-Prado, Raul; Nino, Maria Dolores Sanchez; Carriazo, Sol; Fernandez-Fernandez, Beatriz; Ortiz, Alberto; Perez-Gomez, Maria Vanessa
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Affiliations

IIS Fdn Jimenez Diaz UAM, Dept Hypertens & Nephrol, Madrid, Spain - Author
RICORS2040, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Autonoma Madrid, Fac Med, Dept Farmacol, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Autonoma Madrid, Fac Med, Dept Med, Madrid, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Bruce Lee brought attention to martial arts in the Western world and popularized the quote 'Be water, my friend'. Lee died at the age of 32 years in Hong Kong on 20 July 1973, under mysterious circumstances. The cause of death is unknown, although numerous hypotheses have been proposed, from assassination by gangsters to the more recent suggestion in 2018 that he died from heatstroke. The necropsy showed cerebral oedema. A prior episode was diagnosed as cerebral oedema 2 months earlier. We now propose, based on an analysis of publicly available information, that the cause of death was cerebral oedema due to hyponatraemia. In other words, we propose that the kidney's inability to excrete excess water killed Bruce Lee. In this regard, Lee had multiple risk factors for hyponatraemia that may have included high chronic fluid intake, factors that acutely increase thirst (marijuana) and factors that decrease the ability of the kidneys to excrete water by either promoting secretion of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) or interfering with water excretion mechanisms in kidney tubules: prescription drugs (diuretics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, opioids, antiepileptic drugs), alcohol, chronic low solute intake, a past history of acute kidney injury and exercise.
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Keywords

bruce lee deathcannabiscerebral oedemadiureticsheatstrokehyponatraemialow osmolar intakesiadhBruce lee deathCannabisCerebral oedemaDiureticsHeatstrokeHyponatraemiaLow osmolar intakeOpioidsSiadhSodium

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Clinical Kidney Journal due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position 17/88, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Urology & Nephrology.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-04-02:

  • Google Scholar: 4
  • WoS: 2
  • Scopus: 3
  • Europe PMC: 1
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-02:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 39.

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1807.
  • The number of mentions on the social network Facebook: 1 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 370 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on Wikipedia: 3 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 201 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (PEREZ GOMEZ, MARIA VANESSA).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been PEREZ GOMEZ, MARIA VANESSA.

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Awards linked to the item

Authors are supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) RICORS program to RICORS2040 (RD21/0005/0001), FEDER funds and the Catedra AstraZeneca-UAM of chronic kidney disease and electrolytes. A.O. and S.C. are members of the CONNECT COST action CA19127: Cognitive decline in Nephro-Neurology: European Cooperative Target.
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