Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign says a parasitic worm the presidential candidate contracted years ago while traveling outside of the United States ate a portion of his brain, then died.
How do parasites, such as tapeworms, get into the brain in the first place? Scientists say they can — but that they “eat” human tissue is something of a misnomer.
Lori Ferrins, a research associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Northeastern University, studies neglected parasitic diseases. She says it’s possible that inflammation caused by a parasitic illness could make it easier for organisms to slip past the membrane shielding the brain known as the blood-brain barrier.
“Amoeba can work their way through the blood-brain barrier and tapeworms are also known to migrate into the brain,” Ferrins tells Northeastern Global News
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AP Photo by Michael Brochstein
