Kratom has long been touted as an effective herbal supplement in its native areas like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Apparently it has a lot of uses, including increasing energy levels and cognitive alertness, relieving pain and depression, and in alleviating gastro intestinal symptoms including helping to get rid of intestinal parasites by acting as a deworming agent.

But who stands to benefit the most from using Kratom plant as a medicinal supplement? In tropical countries it has helped laborers to power through monotonous work under the sun, as they chew at least ten leaves throughout the day. Women use it to treat conditions within the family like stomach upset, fever, and pain by serving it as a tea.

In the western world though it is being consumed by those who try to self-manage their chronic pain, like those suffering from fibromyalgia and arthritis. The website Renegade Pharmacist discussed this lengthily in its post on Kratom uses.

“Kratom is also a powerful anti-inflammatory as its primary active alkaloid, mitragynine, has been found to reduce inflammation. It promotes healing and reduces pain, swelling, and redness at the site of inflammation. It is an analgesic like other over the counter pain relievers, so it has many of those same properties as well. It’s commonly used by rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis sufferers, because of this kratom benefit.”

Read the rest of the material here.

Medical Principles and Practice meanwhile come up with a journal entry on Kratom usage and explained its primitive use and how it is consumed. In the entry, they also mentioned the pros and cons of using this herbal supplement.

“The leaves  of  the    M.  speciosa   Korth tree, known as ‘biak-biak’ or ‘ketom’ in Malaysia and as ‘kratom’ in Thailand, are often chewed, smoked or made as tea and have been traditionally used by many laborers to increase work efficiency and tolerance of hard work. In  Malaysia’s  folk  medicine,  the  leaves  are  used  to  treat  diarrhea,  fever,  asthma,  as  cough  suppressant  and  for some users, to prolong sexual intercourse. In addition, it is also used for deworming, as cure for stomach ailments and as a substitute for opium or morphine in the treat-ment of drug addicts.”

The full entry can be downloaded here.

Kratom information website The Thirdwave Co meanwhile shared that at present it is mostly being used to relieve pain, and stave off effects of opium withdrawal and addiction. In the same entry, they mentioned how kratom has become beneficial to those who have been using it in its natural habitat. Botanical Education Alliance

“Interest in kratom continues to grow—having spiked when the DEA threatened to ban it. A survey conducted around the same time found that, of 6,150 kratom users, 51% used it for pain, 14% for anxiety, and 9% for opiate withdrawal. Kratom is commonly sourced from online “legal high” vendors, but it’s far from widely used. In 2014, it ranked among the top 20 drugs only in Hungary, where just 1.5% of the sample had used it.

The continuation of the full write-up can be found here.

Kratom is indeed a promising herbal supplement that can help those with chronic pain or those managing opioid withdrawal.