Research, Health Policy and Abuse Liability, Pinney Associates, Inc., 4800 Montgomery Lane, Suite 400, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA.
Pinney Associates, Inc., 201 North Craig Street, Suite 320, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2019 Sep 1;202:24-32. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.05.005. Epub 2019 Jun 29.
Kratom is a South Eastern Asian tree whose leaves are used to make tea-like brews or swallowed in powdered form for various health and well-being reasons including to relieve pain and opioid withdrawal. It is important to learn more about the potential public health impact of kratom in the context of the opioid epidemic.
An anonymous online survey of kratom users (2867 current users and 157 former users) was conducted in September 2017 through the American Kratom Association and associated social media sites.
Kratom was used primarily to relieve pain (endorsed by 48% of respondents), for anxiety, PTSD, or depression (22%), to increase energy or focus (10%) and to help cut down on opioid use and/or relieve withdrawal (10%). Over 90% of respondents who used it in place of opioids indicated that it was helpful to relieve pain, reduce opioid use, and relieve withdrawal. The reported incidence of bad adverse reactions was 13%, and reactions were overwhelmingly mild and self-managed.
Respondents reported using kratom for conditions which often require use of opioids, including pain and reduction of opioid use. The high self-reported efficacy and low incidence of adverse reactions associated with kratom use suggest that it may provide a potential alternative to opioids for some persons even though it has not been evaluated in multi-center clinical trials or approved for any therapeutic purpose. Further study of kratom, including systematic characterization of its safety and efficacy for various conditions is warranted.
Kratom 是一种东南亚树木，其叶子被用来制作茶状饮品，或磨成粉末状吞食，用于各种健康和福祉的原因，包括缓解疼痛和阿片类药物戒断。了解更多关于在阿片类药物流行背景下 kratom 可能对公众健康造成的影响非常重要。
2017 年 9 月，通过美国 Kratom 协会及其相关社交媒体网站，对 Kratom 用户（2867 名现用者和 157 名前用者）进行了一项匿名在线调查。
Kratom 主要用于缓解疼痛（48%的受访者认可）、焦虑、创伤后应激障碍或抑郁（22%）、增加能量或注意力（10%），以及帮助减少阿片类药物的使用和/或缓解戒断（10%）。超过 90%的受访者表示，用它代替阿片类药物有助于缓解疼痛、减少阿片类药物的使用和缓解戒断。报告的不良不良反应发生率为 13%，反应绝大多数为轻度且可自行管理。
受访者报告称，他们因疼痛等需要使用阿片类药物的疾病而使用 kratom，减少阿片类药物的使用。Kratom 使用的高自我报告疗效和低不良反应发生率表明，即使它尚未在多中心临床试验中进行评估或批准用于任何治疗目的，它也可能为某些人提供阿片类药物的潜在替代物。需要进一步研究 kratom，包括系统地描述其对各种疾病的安全性和疗效。
