Johnny's Boiled Brain! Fears Over Depp's Potentially Fatal '1000-Degree' Sauna
Johnny Depp's bizarre behavior is feared to be the result of the actor boiling his brain in his overheated home sauna, RadarOnline.com can reveal exclusively.
The actor recently sparked fears for his health by appearing shockingly gaunt – sparking fears he was suffering liver problems.
It came after a string of appearances on red carpets and on chat shows during which he stumbled and could barely string together a sentence.
His antics sparked fears he was drunk or high.
But we can RadarOnline.com can reveal he may have risked brain damage after spending hours sitting in his home sauna turned up to "1,000 degrees".
Depp, 55, admitted he turns his steam room to the maximum temperature as it puts him in the perfect frame of mind to dream up back stories and mannerisms for his movie characters.
He revealed: "Captain Jack was actually born in a sauna – my sauna. I figured this is a guy who has been on the high seas for probably all of his life, the majority of his life at least, and therefore probably dealt with a lot of inescapable heat to the brain.
"So I cranked the sauna up to about 1,000 degrees and I sat in there for as long as I could until it started to affect me mentally.
"And then what happened is while I was in there, in that kind of heat you cannot stand still but the worst of it is if you move, it kills you.
"So that in itself sort of gave me… yeah, like his brain has been part-boiled to some degree."
But medics warn users of overheated saunas – especially heavy drinkers who are constantly dehydrated – could risk causing "the breakdown of brain functions" and even risk falling into a vegetative state.
The US National Library Of Medicine lists cases of men suffering multiple organ failure after sauna use.
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And in 2010, a competitor at the World Sauna Championships in Finland died after collapsing in a sauna at 110C heat.
One online forum about the dangers of sauna use states: "Your body is meant to operate at 98.7F and a core temperature increase to 105F constitutes a serious medical emergency.
"You could experience an accelerated heart rate, circulatory shock, lose consciousness or fall into a coma.
"A heat stroke is caused by a sharp rise in the temperature inside the brain, which in turn causes the breakdown of some brain functions.
"A sauna is meant to be relaxing, not a torture device."
The American Heart Association warns people under the influence of alcohol or drugs should never use sauna as it can cause heart attacks – or make the user fall asleep in the steam room, which it says "could be fatal."
Johnny has infamously admitted he spent "far more" than $30,000-a-month on his wine habit, with a Rolling Stone profile of the actor this year referring to the gallons of vino he downs at home.
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