When Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent candidate for president, said a parasitic worm ate part of his brain, I really thought he was crazy.

How did it get there? 

However, parasite worms in people’s brains are a common problem worldwide, according to a study published in Scientific American. 

While relatively uncommon in the U.S., such infections can be devastating in many parts of the world. For example, the World Health Organization estimates that between 2.56 million and 8.3 million people around the globe live with neurocysticercosis, a brain infection caused by pork tapeworm or Taenia solium. 

In Africa alone, for example, more than 200 million people are affected by bilharzia, a disease caused by parasitic worms [that can trigger a series of health problems from anemia to blood in the urine to cognitive issues].

“It’s a really big deal in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, India, and other parts of Asia. It’s a leading cause of acquired seizures,” says Clinton White, a parasitologist and infectious diseases professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. “Neurocysticercosis is a major disease, and it’s kind of funny [these are] the circumstances in which people are paying attention to it,” he told the New York Times.

Uncooked or undercooked pork can cause tapeworms.

and pigs are definitely the natural hosts because the pigs eat other things, such as feces.

Pigs can become infected with a tapeworm. When the tapeworm is present in a pig, it penetrates the intestinal wall and enters the musculature, which is obviously the part of pigs that people consume.

Kennedy’s symptoms included memory loss and brain fog.

While Kennedy didn’t indicate which parasitic worm had infected his brain, the pork tapeworm can cause a condition called neurocysticercosis. The main manifestation of this condition is seizures, although headaches and more serious symptoms can also occur. Kennedy says he ok now.

When I was growing up, one of the things I remember is the Nation of Islam, led by the Honorable Elijah Muhammed, telling Black men and women not to eat pork. Mr.tMuhammed discussed foods in his book “How to Eat To Live.”