What parasite might Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have had in his brain?

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made various claims about his health over the years, but the most shocking came Wednesday when it was revealed that Kennedy had once insisted that a worm had died in his brain over a decade ago.

Kennedy’s claim, reported by The New York Times, came during divorce proceedings from his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, and was intended to bolster his claim that health problems had reduced his earning potential.

Kennedy reportedly disclosed the illness during a court deposition, saying he suffered from memory loss and severe mental numbness in 2010. He said he consulted several neurologists who examined brain scans and suspected he had a brain tumor and that he was scheduled for surgery.

But then a doctor at New York-Presbyterian Hospital told Kennedy he believed scans had revealed a dead parasite in his brain.

The abnormality found on his scans “was caused by a worm that entered my brain, ate part of it, and then died,” Kennedy reported in the 2012 statement in the article.

No medical evidence has been presented to support the candidate’s claims, but the issue has sparked widespread discussion about the existence of brain worms as well as the candidate’s suitability for office.

There are several parasites that can damage the human brain, but the most common parasite in America is the pork tapeworm. Taenia solium. In the intestine, the worm can reach a length of 2 to 7 meters. Although its eggs can migrate from the intestines to tissues throughout the body, the larvae in all other organs die before reaching maturity.

The tapeworm’s eggs are found in the feces of an infected person and can spread to other hosts who consume food or water contaminated by the feces. If someone touches a contaminated surface and then puts their fingers in their mouth without washing their hands, they can also swallow the eggs.

After being swallowed, the eggs enter the skeletal muscles or other tissues, where they form cysts and cause the disease known as cysticercosis.

According to medical experts, the condition described by Kennedy sounds like neurocysticercosis, a disease that occurs when pork tapeworm larvae become trapped in a cyst in the human brain.

T. solium Cysts can also enter the digestive system from contaminated pork that is raw or undercooked, causing a condition called taeniasis. The CDC estimates there are probably fewer than 1,000 cases per year, but it’s difficult to say because infections usually result in nothing worse than mild digestive problems, such as abdominal pain or upset stomach.

If the cysts find their way into the small intestine, they can develop into adult tapeworms in about two months. Their eggs could then spread and cause neurocysticercosis.

The parasite is typically found in underdeveloped countries where pigs come into contact with human feces, Dr. Charles Bailey, medical director of infection prevention at Providence St. Joseph and Providence Mission hospitals. Bailey did not investigate Kennedy but made his decision based on the details revealed about the case.

“It can originate from the gastrointestinal tract and tends to travel to the brain,” Bailey said. “It can remain asymptomatic until the parasite dies. When it dies, it usually triggers a local inflammatory response that causes swelling in that particular area, which can lead to symptoms.”

These symptoms can include seizures, headaches, stroke, inflammation and other cognitive or mental health problems, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The parasite is not commonly found in the United States. According to the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, there are approximately 2,000 hospitalizations for neurocysticercosis each year in the United States.

Bailey said in his four-decade career he has seen 10 to 12 cases, mostly from people who lived in Latin America.

“Most of the cases I have seen have not involved travelers. These are people who have lived in this part of the world for most or all of their lives and for whom high quality or fully cooked meat may not have been consistently available,” Bailey said. “It’s not something typical tourists should worry about.”

Kennedy told The New York Times that doctors told him that the cyst they saw on his scan contained the remains of a parasite. He wasn’t sure where he might have contracted it, but suspected it might have been during a trip to South Asia. It doesn’t require any treatment, he said.

Bailey said there is no need to surgically remove the parasite unless it is in an area of ​​the brain where it is causing problems. If discovered before it dies, it can be treated with oral antiparasitic medications, usually along with steroids. Symptoms can develop over the course of months or years, Bailey said.

The presidential candidate says that over the years he has suffered from atrial fibrillation – the most common form of heart failure – mercury poisoning, hepatitis C from intravenous drug use in his youth and spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological disorder that causes his Vocal cords are squeezed too tightly together.

Kennedy’s campaign press secretary, Stefanie Spear, said in a statement to the Times that Kennedy traveled extensively in Africa, South America and Asia to advocate for the environment and “contracted a parasite in one of those places.”

“The problem was resolved more than 10 years ago and he is physically and mentally healthy,” she said. “Given his competition, questioning Mr. Kennedy’s health is a strange suggestion.”

Kennedy, who is running as a representative of the American Independent Party, has been criticized for his extreme views and disinformation about vaccines.

In a podcast in 2021, Kennedy advised parents to “defy” the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines on vaccinating children. It has been spreading for years untruths about the effectiveness of vaccines and said during a speech in 2022 that COVID-19 restrictions were something a totalitarian state would do, They compare them with the conditions in Nazi Germany.

Times staff writer Faith E. Pinho contributed to this report.