On the Topic of Kratom
In 2017 Dr. Sanjay Gupta did a piece about Kratom which was appropriately titled, “Can this plant help fix the opioid crisis?“. We thought that it was time to bring the topic up again.
A request for comment was submitted by our staff to Dr. Gupta recently, but have not received a response as of yet. In our request we, also, suggested that a more recent follow up piece be done on the topic.
Because there was so much going on in the world at the time of this news piece, the momentum around Kratom took a back seat to other stories, so we’re going to start picking that momentum up again.
In case you’re not familiar with Dr. Gupta, here’s a little back story on him. He was born on October 23, 1969 and was a full time Neurosurgeon before becoming a medical reporter. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, he has been a frequent contributor to numerous CNN news programs. As you’ll see in the video below, there was and still is much interest in this amazing nutritional supplement.
One of the challenges, like any other new industry, is weeding through the information regarding the botanical Mitragyna Speciosa.
Related: Kratom Commercial For Everyone
Dr. Sanjay Gupta received the Green Light to speak positively on a topic such as Kratom, it’s nice to know that you can find reputable professionals, such as him to listen to.
In the video below Dr. Gupta interviews several people in regards to how Kratom has improved their quality of life.
As the video above walks you through the benefits that this supplement provides, we should point out that the FDA has approved two botanical drugs in the last decade, but it’s difficult to find out how many other submissions were unsuccessful.
The Food and Drug Administration has only approved two botanical drugs in the last 15 years. Veregen was used for warts, while Mytesi promoted anti-diarrhea relief among patients on antiretrovirals like HIV/AIDS or chemotherapy treatments by containing codeine which acts as an opiate agonist (like morphine).
Another reputable physician Christopher McCurdy, Ph.D., has taken an interest in Kratom and is a broadly trained medicinal chemist, behavioral pharmacologist and pharmacist whose research focuses on the design, synthesis and has studied Mitragyna Speciosa extensively.
McCurdy says that the pharmaceutical industry has no financial incentive to pursue developing this plant into a drug because it would cost hundreds of millions dollars and patenting plants is nearly impossible. McCurdy says, “without much interest from pharmaceutical companies, there isn’t much research into this plant.”
A search of PubMed, the US National Library of Medicine archive, found a small amount of studies done on Kratom in its entire archive.
McCurdy is working on turning Kratom into a therapy by isolating the plant to the essential molecules he believes have potential and focusing on those.
The news story in the video below features interviews with Kratom users, and Professionals outlining the benefits and how it has helped improve the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of Americans.
The title of the original CNN article was, “Can the Kratom plant help fix the opioid crisis?”. Which is appropriately titled.
Our view on this topic is that there can be two options for the American public. There can be an all-natural over the counter version of the product made available to consumers. For example, when you go to your local pharmacy, you can buy Naproxen Sodium (Aleve) over the counter, but the extra strength version requires a prescription from a licensed physician. This same analogy applies to Mitragyna Speciosa. There can also be a prescription version made available which would contain synthesized versions of specific alkaloids found in the plant. Most, if not all consumers, do not own the necessary equipment nor have the training or knowledge to synthesize the alkaloids of the plant, which is where the second version of Kratom comes in. This would be done by Pharmaceutical companies and offered as a prescription from doctors.
Related: Kratom Ban is Ill-Advised
In relation to this article, and providing good information to consumers, we’ve started the process of spotlighting brands that you might want to try as well as posting their coupon codes on our new Discounts page for your convenience. We also take the time to speak to vendors, research their companies and products. They often send us sample products for our staff to try, which helps validate what we write about it.
Our process is rather simple, and common sense based. We walk through the site, testing links and getting a general feel of the aesthetics which obviously shows whether or not the vendors care about what they’re doing. Phone numbers are a huge show of confidence and let the consumer know that they can make a purchase with confidence and have a central point of contact if they need to use it.
One of our recent Editors Picks was Kures Apothecary, which sells several of the top brands that you’ve likely heard of. They have a knowledgeable staff, great looking site and respond when you reach out to them.
