My guest is Dr. Darshan Singh from the Center for Drug Research at the University of Science in Malaysia. Dr. Singh studies substance abuse, addiction treatment, and harm reduction. He has conducted multiple studies of kratom consumers, and has found kratom in its pure form to be a safe and effective way to decrease substance use, mitigate withdrawal symptoms, and decrease HIV risk behaviors among addicts. Dr. Singh is one of the most active scientists in the study of ketum in Southeast Asia.
Center for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia https://drug.usm.my/
Studies discussed in this interview:
Singh D, Narayanan S, Grundmann O, Dzulkapli EB, Vicknasingam B. Effects of Kratom (Mitragyna Speciosa Korth.) Use in Regular Users. Subst Use Misuse. 2019;54(14):2284-2289. doi:10.1080/10826084.2019.1645178 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31347441/
Singh D, Narayanan S, Müller CP, et al. Severity of Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa Korth.) Psychological Withdrawal Symptoms. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2018;50(5):445-450. doi:10.1080/02791072.2018.1511879 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30152738/
Saref A, Suraya S, Singh D, et al. Self-reported prevalence and severity of opioid and kratom (Mitragyna speciosa korth.) side effects. J Ethnopharmacol. 2019;238:111876. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2019.111876 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31014959/
Singh D, Yeou Chear NJ, Narayanan S, et al. Patterns and reasons for kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) use among current and former opioid poly-drug users. J Ethnopharmacol. 2020;249:112462. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2019.112462 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31816368/
Singh D, Müller CP, Murugaiyah V, et al. Evaluating the hematological and clinical-chemistry parameters of kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) users in Malaysia. J Ethnopharmacol. 2018;214:197-206. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2017.12.017 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29248450/
Leong Bin Abdullah MFI, Tan KL, Mohd Isa S, Yusoff NS, Chear NJY, Singh D. Lipid profile of regular kratom (Mitragyna speciosa Korth.) users in the community setting. PLoS One. 2020;15(6):e0234639. Published 2020 Jun 11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0234639 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32525924/
Singh D, Müller CP, Vicknasingam BK, Mansor SM. Social Functioning of Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) Users in Malaysia. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2015;47(2):125-131. doi:10.1080/02791072.2015.1012610 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25950592/
Singh D, Narayanan S, Suraya S, et al. Public Perceptions toward Kratom (Mitragyna Speciosa) Use in Malaysia [published online ahead of print, 2020 Mar 10]. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2020;1-7. doi:10.1080/02791072.2020.1738603 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32153252/
Saref A, Suraya S, Singh D, et al. Self-Report Data on Regular Consumption of Illicit Drugs and HIV Risk Behaviors after Kratom (Mitragyna Speciosa korth.) Initiation among Illicit Drug Users in Malaysia. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2020;52(2):138-144. doi:10.1080/02791072.2019.1686553 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31682782/
The Kratom Science Podcast is written and produced by Brian Gallagher for KratomScience.com
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