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Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has experienced a series of health problems in recent years, including an abnormality he said died from a parasite that invaded his brain, The New York Times reported Wednesday. Reported.
Kennedy, now 70, said in a deposition two years later that he experienced severe memory loss and mental fog in 2010. According to the Times, he consulted a top neurologist familiar with the medical history of his uncle, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, who died of brain cancer in 2009. Doctors in New York told him after performing a brain scan on him. Kennedy said in a 2012 affidavit that his health problems “may have been caused by a bug that got into his brain, ate some of it, and then died.” The story concerned his divorce from his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy. Robert Kennedy said at the time that his own earning power was being adversely affected by cognitive problems, the Times reported.
Around the same time, he suffered from mercury poisoning, which can cause neurological problems such as loss of peripheral vision, muscle weakness, motor, hearing and speech problems, and even memory loss, the Times reported. Ta. Kennedy told the newspaper that he has recovered from his memory loss and brain fog and that the parasite does not require treatment.
Additionally, he has been battling atrial fibrillation (A-fib), an irregular heartbeat, for decades. He told the Times that it has been more than 10 years since he experienced the condition and that he believes he no longer suffers from it.
Kennedy’s campaign declined to provide his medical records to the Times. Kennedy campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Speer said in a statement to CNN that Kennedy has “traveled extensively in Africa, South America, and Asia” as part of his work as an environmental activist, and on one of those trips he contracted the parasite. He said he was infected.
“This issue was resolved more than a decade ago and he is in good physical and mental health. Questioning Mr. Kennedy’s health is a strange proposition given his competition with Mr. Kennedy. ” the campaign said, referring to the aging of President Joe Biden, 81, and former President Donald Trump, 77.
Dr. Peter Hotez, an infectious disease expert and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told CNN it was difficult to fully weigh Kennedy’s claims without seeing the scans. “This is an incomplete story,” he said.
However, generally speaking, people with tapeworm infections of the brain (a condition known as neurocysticercosis) are more likely to have seizures and may need to take anti-seizure medications for a long period of time. said Hotez. Cysts in the brain can cause the brain to release inflammatory chemicals called cytokines.
Hotez said the link between memory loss and dementia is still being studied. These symptoms are also associated with mercury poisoning, and President Kennedy told the Times that he was consuming large amounts of tuna and sea bass at the time he was diagnosed with mercury poisoning.
“Yes, worms are not feeding the brain. They live inside the brain,” Dr. Hotez said. He said the worms get nutrients from their bodies, but they don’t eat brain tissue.
Pork tapeworm infections can be difficult to diagnose because the parasites are not detected while they are alive and do not show up on scans. Hotez said it’s more commonly discovered after the worms die and leave behind calcified cysts in the brain.
Kennedy said he has made lifestyle changes in response to these health issues, including sleeping more, traveling less, eating less fish and undergoing chelation therapy to flush out metals from his body.
During his campaign, Mr. Kennedy has engaged in strenuous exercise, including skiing and weightlifting, and has portrayed himself as vibrant and youthful compared to Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump. Biden’s personal physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, said in February that there were “no new concerns” about the president’s health as determined by a medical exam, and the White House said O’Connor was not required to undergo a cognitive function test because it was deemed unnecessary. announced that it had not been carried out. The Trump campaign released a letter late last year that made extensive statements about Trump’s health, including that the former president was in “excellent health” and had “exceptional” cognitive tests. However, it contained no information about the type of test Mr. Trump underwent. What did it cost or what was the result?
Mr. Kennedy’s views on personal health, including his longstanding skepticism about certain vaccines, have been a hallmark of his public image. He is the founder of the group Children’s Health Defense, which has been accused of spreading falsehoods about vaccines, but he disputes suggestions that he is “anti-vaccine”.
This story has been updated with additional details and reactions.
CNN’s Brenda Goodman contributed to this report.
