Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has faced a number of health issues in recent years, including severe memory loss and mental fog, which he attributed to a parasite that entered his brain and died, according to a report by The New York Times. The 70-year-old told the newspaper that in 2010, he consulted top neurologists familiar with the medical history of his late uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy, who died of brain cancer in 2009. A New York doctor reviewed a scan of Kennedy’s brain and suggested that his health issues could have been caused by a parasite that had penetrated his brain, consumed a portion of it, and then died. Kennedy said at the time that his earning power had been negatively affected by the cognitive issues.
Around the same time, Kennedy also suffered from mercury poisoning, which can lead to neurological issues such as loss of peripheral vision, muscle weakness, and memory loss, as well as issues with movement, hearing, and speech. He told the Times that he had recovered from the memory loss and brain fogginess and that the parasite did not require treatment.
Kennedy has also struggled with atrial fibrillation, or A-fib, an irregular heartbeat, which he said had not affected him for over a decade. Kennedy’s campaign declined to provide the newspaper with his medical records, but his spokesperson, Stefanie Spear, insisted that he was in “robust physical and mental health” and that questioning his health was a “hilarious suggestion” when compared to the advanced ages of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Doctors interviewed by The New York Times suggested that Kennedy’s condition, known as neurocysticercosis, could have been caused by a pork tapeworm larva. However, Dr. Clinton White, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, explained that it was unlikely that the parasite would have “eaten” part of Kennedy’s brain but rather subsisted on nutrients from the body. Neurocysticercosis can cause seizures, headaches, and dizziness, although memory loss is more commonly associated with mercury poisoning. Kennedy told the Times that at the time he said he was diagnosed with mercury poisoning, he was consuming high quantities of tuna and perch.
To address his health issues, Kennedy changed his lifestyle, including getting more sleep, traveling less, reducing his fish intake, and undergoing chelation therapy, which aims to eliminate metals from the body. On the campaign trail, Kennedy has presented himself as a healthy and energetic candidate compared to Biden and Trump, participating in vigorous sports like skiing and lifting weights.
Kennedy’s stance on personal health, which includes his longstanding skepticism of certain vaccines, has been a distinguishing aspect of his public profile. Although he has denied being “anti-vaccine”, he is the founder of the Children’s Health Defense, a group that has been accused of disseminating false claims about vaccinations.
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