The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an import alert on kratom in 2012, giving the agency the legal right to seize imports. The justification for the alert was based on laughably flimsy evidence, including nine deaths in Sweden of a product called “Krypton”, that contained toxic levels of O-desmethyltramadol (Babin, 2018). Since then, the …
FDA-Induced Panic by Another Kratom-Induced Seizure Read More »
A new study from Thailand (La-up, 2021) found traditional users of kratom had elevated levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good” cholesterol) and low levels of triglycerides, or “fats from the food we eat that are carried in the blood” (Cleveland Clinic 2019). High HDL, low levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad” cholesterol), and …
Correlation Found Between Thai Kratom Users and “Good” Cholesterol Levels Read More »
A group of scientists from the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute have documented the anatomy of the kratom plant. In the study published Tropical Life Sciences Research, scientists documented not only the anatomy, but the “micromorphology characteristics” of kratom plants collected from Malaysia. The study provided botanical evidence kratom is indeed a species of …
Every American should have the right to grow their own plant medicine in their backyard, greenhouse, or inside their residence. Plants including kratom, poppies, cannabis, and psilocybin mushrooms should be just as legal to grow as coffee, sunflowers, tomatoes, and shiitakes. The right to have a plant medicine garden could be protected just as the …
Happy 4/20! Every American should have the right to grow plant medicine Read More »
Like kratom, I think that it is fair to say that us kratom consumers have been partially misunderstood and incorrectly labeled. In a world full of disinformation, it is easy to get lost in the madness. One day, you may see on the news a wild claim stating, “Man driven to psychosis by kratom.” Other …
Note: This article is a summary of the journal article cited as follows:Gonçalves, J., Luís, Â., Gallardo, E., & Duarte, A. P. (2021). Psychoactive Substances of Natural Origin: Toxicological Aspects, Therapeutic Properties and Analysis in Biological Samples. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 26(5), 1397. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26051397Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7961374/ Scientists from Portugal, where the possession and consumption of all …
List of “New” Psychoactive Substances of Natural Origin Read More »
Most of the world’s commercial kratom is produced in Indonesia. A ban in Indonesia would be severely detrimental to the kratom supply. Kratom is illegal to sell as a food or medicine domestically in Indonesia, but as it grows wild there, those who use kratom can easily obtain it from native trees. It is legal …
In a 2020 case report, a teenage girl intentionally overdosed on 45 kratom capsules (500mg each = 22.5 grams or 4/5 ounce). After suffering from severe depression, the 15 year old obtained the capsules from her father, and swallowed them in an attempted suicide. On exam, patient complained of dry mouth, dizziness, restlessness, palpitations, nausea, …
Teenager Attempts Suicide by Swallowing 45 Kratom Capsules Read More »
For audio of this interview as well as studies cited here see Kratom Science Podcast #45 KratomScience: You have your background in pharmacokinetics. What made you interested in going into that field? Dr. Abhisheak Sharma: So basically I did my PhD in 2015 and I moved to the States to do my post-doctoral studies with …
Inteview with Pharmacokineticist and Kratom Researcher Dr. Abhisheak Sharma Read More »
A team from the Department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University published the kratom genome, or the complete contents of genetic material in an organism. Using Rifat kratom trees grown in a greenhouse at the university, the team analyzed plant material to generate a draft assembly of mitragyna specioca for the first time. As …