B.B. King Died from Multiple Small Strokes

B.B. King’s death was brought on by a series of small strokes that are attributed to Type II diabetes, according to his physician, Darin Brimhall, and Las Vegas coroner John Fudenberg.

King’s strokes resulted from reduced blood flow due to chronic diabetes. The guitarist, who died in Las Vegas on May 14 at the age of 89, suffered from the disease in the last 20 years of his life.

The condition that caused King’s death is called multi-infarct dementia, or MID for short. It is also known as vascular dementia and is the second most common form of dementia in older adults after Alzheimer’s.