Among mysterious celebrity deaths, it is up there with Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy Jr. But the myth of Bruce Lee's demise in Hong Kong in 1973 may finally have been solved.

"The death of Bruce Lee, coming at such a young age and in the peak of physical fitness, has given rise to much speculation," said James Filkins, at Cook County medical examiner's office in Chicago.

The official cause of Lee's death was recorded in the autopsy report as cerebral edema, or brain swelling. This was supposedly due to his hypersensitivity to a painkiller called equigesic that he had taken that day.

But further research suggests the kung fu idol may have died from an epileptic condition first recognized more than 20 years after his death.

Filkins thinks the official explanation is also wrong. Drug reactions tend to involve neck swelling and respiratory distress. Instead, he thinks Lee died of a condition called sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, which was only recognized in 1995.

The condition involves a seizure which stops the heart or lungs. It kills around 500 people a year in Britain, is most common in men aged 20 to 40 and can be brought on by lack of sleep and stress. "Lee was under a great deal of physical and mental distress at the time," said Filkins.

Editor: Donald