According to RFK Jr., the worm "got into my brain and ate a portion of it" (NYT)

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a series of health issues, including a worm that entered his brain and died.

Kennedy, 70, said in a deposition two years later that he had severe memory loss and mental fog in 2010. The Times reported that he consulted top neurologists familiar with his uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, who died of brain cancer in 2009. In a 2012 deposition about his divorce from his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, Kennedy said a New York doctor told him his health issues could be “caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died.” According to the Times, Robert Kennedy said his cognitive issues had hurt his earnings.

The Times reported that he had mercury poisoning, which can cause neurological issues like peripheral vision loss, muscle weakness, movement, hearing, and speech problems, and memory loss. Kennedy told the paper he recovered from memory loss and brain fogginess and the parasite was not treatable.

He also has atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat, for decades. The Times reported that he believes he no longer has the condition after more than a decade.

After these health issues, Kennedy changed his lifestyle by sleeping more, traveling less, eating less fish, and getting chelation therapy to remove metals.