Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by CoolHand on Thursday September 06 2018, @05:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the more-science-needed dept.

Dr. Steven Novella has an article on the current state of the science on kratom and its potential as a source of new medicines. He gives an overview of the current state of the scientific study that has been done on kratom so far, and concludes that it is very promising but the scientific research done on it as of now is woefully insufficient. However, recent attempts by the FDA and DEA to schedule it on the one hand, and its continuing use as an unregulated supplement on the other may serve to stifle serious scientific research.

You may never have heard about kratom (though if you're a regular reader, you probably have), but there is already a thriving market for this Southeast Asian herb, and groups dedicated to the business of selling kratom. Kratom has also come onto the radar of the FDA and DEA, who would like to regulate it (it currently is essentially unregulated, except as a supplement). This has sparked a controversy over whether and how kratom should be regulated, fueled partly by a lack of clear scientific studies.

[...] I do not think that kratom should be classified as schedule 1, which the FDA and DEA did try to do two years ago, but had to back off due to public and political backlash. Schedule 1 is for substances with abuse potential but no legitimate medical use. The problem with this categorization is that it will frustrate scientific investigation, and that is exactly what we need right now.

It may be too late because it is already widely available as an herbal supplement, but kratom should be considered an investigational new drug, and properly scientifically studied. We desperately need more options in treating pain, especially chronic pain, and any addition to our toolkit is extremely welcome.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday September 06 2018, @05:51PM (3 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Thursday September 06 2018, @05:51PM (#731420)

    At one time cocaine and heroin were widely available and were well known to cure everything from baldness to impotence.

    I believe you mean that cocaine and heroin were widely available and were advertised to cure everything from baldness to impotence. Back in the pre-FDA days, manufacturers of "patent remedies" could and did make all sorts of claims which were usually untested and almost always wrong in an effort to boost sales. This is no different from the supplement and alternative medicine industries today.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Thursday September 06 2018, @05:55PM (1 child)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 06 2018, @05:55PM (#731425) Journal

    You seem to have the misconception that advertising might contain untrue information.

    I read it on Reader's Digest The Internet, so it must be true.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 07 2018, @07:16AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 07 2018, @07:16AM (#731666)
      Thing is, making medical claims in advertisements without an appropriate disclaimer such as the Quack Miranda Warning [respectfulinsolence.com] (e.g. "These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease") can get you into trouble. There are laws about making medical claims and making them where they are not warranted can get you into trouble. If your advertisement markets your nostrum as a treatment for some disease, then you had better have FDA approval to make that kind of statement. If the FDA notices that you are making such statements without their approval they will eventually take legal action against you if you ignore their warnings.
  • (Score: 2) by dry on Friday September 07 2018, @04:42AM

    by dry (223) on Friday September 07 2018, @04:42AM (#731641) Journal

    Well, heroin was originally advertised as a cure for morphine addiction, and sure enough, it did work for that as once addicted to heroin, morphine wasn't good enough.