In 2010, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suffered memory loss and mental confusion so severe that a friend was concerned he might have a brain tumor. Mr. Kennedy said he consulted with some of the country’s leading neurologists, many of whom had treated or spoken to his uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, before he passed away the previous year from brain cancer.
In 2012 testimony reviewed by The New York Times, he said several doctors noticed a dark spot on the young Mr. Kennedy’s brain scan and concluded he had a tumor. Mr. Kennedy was immediately scheduled for surgery at Duke University Medical Center by the same surgeon who had performed the surgery. surgery for his unclehe say.
He said that while he was packing for the trip, he received a call from a doctor at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital who had a different view: He believed that Mr. Kennedy had a parasite that had died in his stomach. head.
The doctor believed the abnormality seen on his scan “was caused by a worm entering my brain and eating part of it and then dying,” Mr. Kennedy said in his testimony.
Now an independent presidential candidate, Mr. Kennedy, 70, has described his physical strength and relative youth as an advantage over Mr. Kennedy. the two oldest each ran for the White House: President Biden, 81 years old, and former President Donald J. Trump, 77 years old. Mr. Kennedy won a spot on the ballots in Utah, Michigan, Hawaii and his campaign said, California and Delaware. His intense efforts to achieve Access in more states could put him in a position to overturn the election.
He puts a lot of effort into looking fit, skiing with one professional skier and with an Olympic gold medalist who called him a “tearer” as they ran down the mountain. A camera crew was by his side while he lifted weights, shirtless, at an outdoor gym in Venice Beach.
However, over the years he has faced serious health problems, some of which were previously undisclosed, including apparent parasites.
For decades, Mr. Kennedy suffered from atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm disorder that increases the risk of stroke or heart failure. He has been hospitalized at least four times for episodes, although in an interview with The Times this winter he said he had not had an incident in more than a decade and believed The condition has disappeared.
He said that around the same time he learned about the parasite, he was also diagnosed with mercury poisoning, most likely caused by eating too much fish containing dangerous heavy metals, which can cause health problems. serious neurological problem.
“Obviously I have cognitive problems,” he said in his 2012 testimony. “I have short-term memory loss and long-term memory loss that affects me.”
In an interview with The Times, he said he had recovered from his memory loss and confusion and had no sequelae from the parasite, which he said did not require treatment. When asked last week whether any of Mr. Kennedy’s health problems could affect his ability to run for president, Stefanie Spear, a spokeswoman for the Kennedy campaign, told The Times: “It’s a fun suggestion given the competition.”
The campaign declined to provide his medical records to The Times. Both President Biden and Mr. Trump released medical records during this election cycle. However, the White House has issued one six-page health summary for President Biden in February. Mr. Trump offered one three-paragraph statement from his doctor in November.
Doctors who have treated parasitic infections and mercury poisoning say both conditions can sometimes cause permanent damage to brain function, but patients can also have temporary symptoms and recover. completely.
Some of Mr. Kennedy’s health problems were revealed in 2012 testimony he gave during divorce proceedings with his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy. At the time, Mr. Kennedy argued that his earning capacity had been impaired due to cognitive difficulties.
Mr. Kennedy provided more details, including about the apparent parasite, in a phone interview with The Times, conducted as he prepared to appear on his first state ballot . His campaign declined to answer follow-up questions.
In the days after the 2010 call from NewYork-Presbyterian, Mr. Kennedy said in an interview that he had undergone a series of tests. Scans over several weeks showed no changes in the location of his brain, he said.
Doctors eventually concluded that the cyst they saw on the scan contained the remains of the parasite. Mr. Kennedy said he did not know what type of parasite or where he might have contracted it, although he suspected it may have occurred during a trip through South Asia.
Several infectious disease experts and neurosurgeons said in separate interviews with The Times that, based on what Mr. Kennedy described, they believed it could be pork tapeworm larvae. Doctors did not treat Mr. Kennedy and only spoke generally.
Dr. Clinton White, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, said microscopic tapeworm eggs are sticky and easily passed from person to person. Once hatched, he said, the larvae can travel through the bloodstream “and invade all types of tissues.”
Although it is impossible to know for sure, he added that it is unlikely that the parasite cannibalizes part of the brain as Mr. Kennedy described. Rather, Dr. White said, it survives on nutrients from the body. Unlike tapeworm larvae in the intestines, larvae in the brain remain relatively small, about 1/3 inch.
Some tapeworm larvae can live in the human brain for many years without causing any problems. Others can wreak havoc, often when they begin to die, causing inflammation. The most common symptoms are seizures, headaches and dizziness.
According to statistics, there are about 2,000 hospitalizations for this disease, called neurocysticercosis, each year in the United States. Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Once any worm is in the brain, cells calcify around it, said Scott Gardner, who heads the Manter Parasitology Laboratory at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “And you basically have a tumor that’s there forever. It’s not going anywhere.”
Dr. Gardner said it’s possible that a worm could cause memory loss. However, severe memory loss is often linked to another health problem Kennedy said at the time: mercury poisoning.
Mr. Kennedy said he was then consuming a diet high in predatory fish, especially tuna and perch, both of which are known to have high levels of mercury. In an interview with The Times, he said he experienced “severe brain fog” and had difficulty recalling words. Mr. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, has criticized the dangers of mercury pollution in fish charcoal energy sourcehad his blood tested.
He said tests showed his mercury levels were 10 times higher than what the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe.
At that time, Mr. Kennedy had also been campaigning for several years against thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative used in some vaccines. He is a longtime vaccine skeptic who has falsely linked childhood vaccinations to a rise in autism, as well as other medical conditions.
In the interview, Mr. Kennedy said he was certain his diet caused the poisoning. “I love tuna sandwiches. I ate them all the time,” he said.
The Times described Mr. Kennedy’s symptoms to Elsie Sunderland, an environmental chemist at Harvard, who had not spoken to Mr. Kennedy and responded in general terms about the condition.
She said the mercury levels Mr. Kennedy described were high, but not surprising to people who consume that amount and type of seafood.
Mr Kennedy said he made changes after these two health scares, including sleeping more, moving less and reducing his fish intake.
He also underwent chelation therapy, a treatment that binds to metals in the body so they can be expelled. It is often given to people contaminated with metals, such as lead and zinc, in industrial accidents. Dr. Sunderland says when mercury poisoning is clearly related to diet, she simply advises the person to stop eating fish. But another doctor who spoke to The Times said she would advise chelation therapy to the extent that Mr. Kennedy said he had.
Mr. Kennedy’s heart problems began in college, he said, when it began beating out of sync.
According to news reports, in 2001 he was admitted to a hospital in Seattle while in town to give a speech. He was treated and released the next day. He was hospitalized at least three more times between September 2011 and early 2012, including once in Los Angeles, he said in testimony. During that visit, he said, doctors used a defibrillator to shock his heart to restore its rhythm.
He said in his testimony that stress, caffeine and lack of sleep caused the condition. “I feel like there’s a deep pocket in my chest. I could feel it as soon as it came out,” he said.
He also said in testimony and interviews that he contracted hepatitis C from intravenous drug use when he was young. He said he received treatment and had no lasting side effects from the infection.
Mr. Kennedy has spoken publicly about another serious health condition — spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological disorder that causes his vocal cords to be squeezed too close together and explains his hoarse, double voice. when his stress.
He said he first noticed it when he was 42 years old. Mr. Kennedy for many years has earned a significant amount of money speakingAnd that business collapsed as conditions worsened, he said.
I said an interviewer last year that he had recently undergone a procedure available in Japan to implant titanium between his vocal cords to keep them from involuntarily constricting.
