Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. experienced a series of health issues in recent years, including an abnormality that he said was caused by a worm that entered his brain and then died, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. In 2010, Kennedy, now 70, experienced severe memory loss and mental fog, he said in a deposition two years later. According to the Times, he consulted top neurologists familiar with the medical history of his uncle, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, who had died of brain cancer in 2009. A New York doctor, after reviewing a scan of his brain, told him that his health issues could be “caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died,” Kennedy said in the 2012 deposition, which concerned a divorce from his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy. Robert Kennedy said at the time that his earning power had been negatively affected by the cognitive issues, the Times reported.
Quick Read
RFK Jr. Recovers from Past Brain Parasite, Ready for Presidential Race
- Health Disclosure: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign has confirmed that he had previously been infected with a brain parasite, which has since been resolved, asserting his current robust health as he runs for president.
- Historical Health Issue: The parasite issue, which occurred over a decade ago during his extensive travels as an environmental advocate, was brought to light following a report by the New York Times citing a past deposition.
- Campaign Continues: Despite past health concerns, Kennedy’s campaign emphasizes his full recovery and readiness to compete against Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the upcoming election, with a recent poll showing him garnering 8% of voter support nationwide.
The Associated Press has the story:
Kennedy Jr. says a Worm ‘got into my brain and ate a portion of it’
NEWSLOOKS – (AP)
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his head more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment. Kennedy “traveled extensively in Africa, South America, and Asia in his work as an environmental advocate, and in one of those locations contracted a parasite,” press secretary Stefanie Spear said. “The issue was resolved more than 10 years ago, and he is in robust physical and mental health,” she said.
Citing a 12-year-old deposition, the Times said Kennedy stated that a doctor had told him an abnormality on his brain scan “was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died.” The 2012 deposition came during divorce proceedings from his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, the Times reported, as he argued his earning power had been diminished by his cognitive struggles.
Mary Richardson Kennedy died by suicide in 2012, as she and Kennedy were battling over custody of their four children. Kennedy, who is challenging Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden for the White House in November, could pick up 8% of voters nationwide, a poll in March showed. “Questioning Mr. Kennedy’s health is a hilarious suggestion, given his competition,” Spear said.
Dr. Peter Hotez, an infectious disease expert and Dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said that it’s difficult to fully review Kennedy’s claim without looking at the scans. “It’s an incomplete story,” as he put it.
But, speaking generally, Hotez said people with pork tapeworm infections in their brains — a condition known as neurocysticercosis — more commonly experience seizures and sometimes need to be on anti-seizure medication for a long time because when the worms die, they form a calcified cyst in the brain that can cause the brain to release inflammatory chemicals called cytokines.
The connection to memory problems and dementia is under study, Hotez said. Those symptoms are also associated with mercury poisoning, and Kennedy told the Times that at the time he was diagnosed with that ailment, he was consuming high quantities of tuna and perch.
“Yeah, the worms are not feeding the brain. They are living in the brain,” Dr. Hotez said. The worms get nutrients from the body, but they are not eating the brain tissue, he said.
Pork tapeworm infections can be difficult to diagnose because when the worm is alive it masks itself from detection and doesn’t show up on scans. It’s more common to find the worm after it has died and left behind a calcified cyst in the brain, Hotez said.
Kennedy said he changed his lifestyle following these health episodes, including getting more sleep, traveling less, reducing his fish intake and undergoing chelation therapy that seeks to expel metals in the body.
On the campaign trail, Kennedy has portrayed himself as vibrant and youthful compared to Biden and Trump, engaging in strenuous activities like skiing and weightlifting. Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, said in February that there were “no new concerns” with the president’s health revealed in a physical and the White House has said no cognitive test was administered as O’Connor did not find it necessary. Trump’s campaign late last year released a letter that made broad statements about his health — including claims that the former president is in “excellent” health and that his cognitive exams “were exceptional” — but did not include information about the types of tests that Trump took or what the results were.
Kennedy’s views on personal health, including his long-held skepticism of certain vaccines, have been a distinctive feature of his public image. He has disputed suggestions that he is “anti-vaccine,” though he is the founder of the Children’s Health Defense, a group that has been accused of spreading falsehoods about vaccines.
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