It sounds like something straight out of a low-budget sci-fi flick. You’re sitting in a doctor's office, and instead of hearing about a common infection or a standard injury, the specialist looks at your brain scan and tells you there’s a dead parasite in your head. Specifically, a worm.
This isn't a plot point from The Last of Us. It’s actually what happened to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. back in 2010.
The story hit the mainstream news cycle in early 2024 when the New York Times unearthed a 2012 deposition from his divorce proceedings. In those documents, RFK Jr. described a terrifying period of memory loss and mental fogginess. He was so worried that he consulted neurologists who had previously treated his uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy, for brain cancer. The initial fear? A tumor. But a second opinion from a doctor at New York-Presbyterian Hospital suggested something much weirder: a worm that had traveled into his brain, consumed some tissue, and then died.
The Reality of Neurocysticercosis
So, did RFK Jr. have brain worms? Technically, yes—but the "ate a portion of it" part is where the science gets a little messy.
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Medical experts, including those from the CDC and prominent infectious disease specialists, believe the culprit was likely Taenia solium, better known as the pork tapeworm. When the larvae of this tapeworm end up in the central nervous system, it’s a condition called neurocysticercosis.
Honestly, it’s way more common globally than you’d think. While it’s considered a "neglected parasitic infection" in the United States, there are still roughly 1,000 to 2,000 hospitalizations for it every year in the U.S. alone.
How does a worm even get there?
It’s a bit of a gross-out process. You don't get a brain worm just by eating undercooked pork—that usually just gives you a standard intestinal tapeworm. To get the brain version, you have to ingest the eggs of the tapeworm, which are typically spread through food or water contaminated with microscopic amounts of human feces.
RFK Jr. speculated he might have picked it up during his extensive travels through South Asia or Africa. Once those eggs are swallowed, they hatch in the intestines, crawl through the blood-brain barrier, and set up shop in the tissue.
Breaking Down the "Brain Eating" Myth
The phrase "ate a portion of my brain" is catchy for headlines, but neurologists are quick to correct the record. These worms don't actually munch on gray matter like a zombie at a buffet.
According to Dr. Pria Anand, an assistant professor of neurology at Boston University, the symptoms aren't usually caused by the worm's appetite. Instead, the damage comes from the body's own immune system. When the worm is alive, it often stays "hidden" from the immune system. But when it starts to die—which is what happened in Kennedy's case—the body freaks out.
The resulting inflammation and swelling are what cause the "brain fog," memory loss, or the more common symptom: seizures.
- The Calcification Factor: When the parasite dies, it doesn't just disappear. It often becomes a calcified little "pebble" in the brain. On a CT scan, these look like tiny bright spots—doctors sometimes call them "brain sand" or even "teeth."
- Mercury Poisoning: It’s worth noting that around the same time as the worm discovery, Kennedy was also diagnosed with severe mercury poisoning. He told the Times he was eating massive amounts of tuna fish sandwiches. Experts like Scott Gardner from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have pointed out that his specific cognitive symptoms—the heavy brain fog—might have actually been more related to the mercury than the dead worm.
Symptoms and Warning Signs
Most people who have neurocysticercosis don't even know it. They are asymptomatic until something shifts. If you're wondering what the actual red flags look like, here is how it typically manifests:
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- Seizures: This is the big one. It’s the leading cause of adult-onset epilepsy in many parts of the world.
- Chronic Headaches: Not just a tension headache, but persistent, severe pressure caused by inflammation or fluid buildup.
- Confusion and Cognitive Decline: This matches what RFK Jr. described—struggling to recall basic information or feeling "lost" in your own thoughts.
- Hydrocephalus: In rare cases, the cyst blocks the flow of spinal fluid, which is a genuine medical emergency.
Can You Actually Recover?
RFK Jr. says he did. He maintains that the cognitive issues were a temporary hurdle and that he’s since made a full recovery without needing surgery or aggressive anti-parasitic drugs.
Standard treatment usually involves steroids to bring down the swelling and sometimes drugs like albendazole to kill any remaining larvae. If the worm is already dead and calcified, doctors often just leave it alone unless it’s causing active seizures.
The brain is remarkably resilient. While the idea of a "hitchhiker" in your skull is haunting, the medical consensus is that once the inflammation settles, many patients return to their baseline.
Actionable Steps for Prevention
If this story has you looking at your lunch a little differently, there are simple ways to keep your brain parasite-free:
- Wash your hands: This is the #1 defense. Since the eggs are spread through the fecal-oral route, proper hygiene is everything.
- Be cautious abroad: When traveling in regions with poor sanitation, stick to bottled water and avoid raw vegetables that might have been washed in local tap water.
- Cook pork thoroughly: While this prevents the intestinal version, it’s still a key part of breaking the tapeworm life cycle. Aim for an internal temperature of at least 145°F (63°C).
- Screening: If you’ve spent significant time in high-risk areas and start experiencing unexplained seizures or severe new headaches, ask a doctor about an MRI or CT scan.
The "brain worm" saga is a strange footnote in political history, but for the medical community, it’s a very real reminder of how interconnected our health is with our environment and the food we eat.