Research

Johns Hopkins Requesting Participation of Kratom Consumers in a New Survey

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tinyurl.com/jhusupplementsurvey The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is seeking volunteers to complete an online survey study about substance use. We want to learn more about experiences with novel or less commonly used substances, such as kratom, kava, akuamma seed, and tianeptine. If you have used these substances, you may be eligible to complete the …

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Kratom Shown to Inhibit Fat, Glucose Accumulation In Vitro

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Note: We report on ongoing science. Not enough evidence has been established to conclude that kratom or mitragynine is an effective treatment for any disease. Scientists have discovered that kratom can inhibit enzymes that play a role in fat absorption. In an in vitro study, scientists found that mitragynine is a potent inhibitor of lipase, …

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Scientists: Kratom Extract “A Blessing and a Curse”

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In a letter to the journal Addiction, kratom scientists including Oliver Grundmann, Christopher McCurdy, Abhisheak Sharma, Kirsten Smith, and Marc Swogger emphasized that kratom leaf, sold in crushed or dried for in the West and used for at least hundreds of years in Southeast Asia, is different from kratom alkaloid extract products, manufactured recently and …

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Kratom Could Reduce Alcohol Consumption, Say Scientists

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The alkaloid speciogynine may be a starting point for low-risk treatment Self-reports of kratom use as an alcohol substitute exist online, though they have not been as well documented in the scientific literature as other motivations for kratom use, such as substitution for opiates (Smith et al, 2023). In one survey of US residents, 18% …

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Study Finds Drug Busts Related to Increase in Overdose Deaths

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A study published in American Journal of Public Health found fatal drug overdoses increased following police seizures of illicit substances. Researchers examined data over a two year period in Marion County, Indiana, and “compared frequency and characteristics of drug (i.e., opioids and stimulants) seizures with changes in fatal overdose, emergency medical services nonfatal overdose calls …

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Scientists Interview Kratom Consumers About Their Experience

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Last year, we published a 255 page document of first-person experiences that kratom consumers posted in the comments section of KratomScience.com articles. Other places like Reddit.com/r/kratom feature thousands of kratom testimonies. So far the nuances of these experiences, though abundant and similar, have not been reflected in the science. Case reports, often woefully inadequate in …

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Is kratom being adulterated with other drugs?

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Both legality proponents and prohibitionists claim that kratom sold in the Western marketplace by some nefarious vendors is adulterated with other drugs such as fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine. But where is the evidence of this? There are confirmed cases in the scientific literature and media that we examine below of kratom being adulterated with O-desmethyltramadol, …

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Respiratory Distress in Heavy Smoker Caused by Kratom, Say Doctors

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A case report published in European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine entitled “Kratom-Induced Acute Respitory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)” claimed kratom induced ARDS in a 36 year old man with a “a 7.5-pack year history”. A “pack year” according to the National Cancer Institute, “is calculated by multiplying the number of packs of cigarettes …

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Kratom Interactions with Food, Drugs, and Dietary Supplements

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Many foods, drugs, and dietary supplements can interact with other foods, drugs, and dietary supplements. This can have various effects on the body ranging from barely noticeable to a toxic adverse event. Kratom can interact with multiple drugs and dietary supplements, and certain foods. Multiple studies have shown alkaloids in kratom inhibit cytochrome P-450 enzymes …

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Kratom and Hallucinations: Examining the Evidence Behind the Claims

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Hallucination defined in Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide is “a perception without a stimulus” (2017). Kratom is not classified as a hallucinogen. Hallucinogens are defined by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) as “drugs that alter a person’s awareness of their surroundings as well as their own thoughts and feelings” (2019). However, while the Food …

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