Doctors are warning Americans about the health effects of an increasingly popular supplement linked to a string of deaths, which can also change the color of a person’s skin.
Kratom first became popular in the US as a treatment for opioid withdrawal, but more recently it has gained traction as a wellness supplement for anxiety and stress.
But the plant’s leaf extract, sold in health stores and gas stations for about 20 cents a pill, has been linked to a host of serious side effects, including seizures, hallucinations and crippling addiction.
Several deaths have also been reported from taking the supplement.
Now, doctors are again warning that it can also alter patients’ skin tone after detecting an increase in cases. They say this color change can persist for months, even when someone stops taking the supplement.
Pictured above is the 30-year-old patient who came to doctors in Kansas with blue skin after taking Kratom. The symptoms did not disappear 16 months later.
He also had blue skin on the back of his hand and in the area of his neck. It is unclear how Kratom can cause this.
Among those affected is a 30-year-old man who went to doctors in Kansas with dark gray-blue skin on his cheeks, the back of his neck, the backs of his hands and his forearms.
The patient had taken Kratom for five years and had no problems until his skin suddenly changed color. Sixteen months after stopping the supplement he is still blue.
He had begun taking Kratom daily to help alleviate the opioid addiction he developed after high school.
Dr. Heather Woolery-Lloyd, a dermatologist at the University of Miami, said in an interview with medscape: ‘This is something we will see more and more.
“Many of our patients think that Kratom is a safe herbal supplement, but they are often unaware that it can have several side effects and be addictive.”
The supplement is made from the leaves of the Southeast Asian rainforest tree of the same name and has been used in cultures in Cambodia, Thailand, and elsewhere since at least the 19th century.
It can be boiled into tea, smoked, chewed, mixed into drinks, or placed in capsules, and many take Kratom daily to help them quit opioids.
The FDA warns against using the supplement, stating that it has not been approved for any use in the US.
This image also shows the patient with blue skin on the side of his face, which did not disappear.
The aforementioned patient in Washington state also went to doctors saying his skin had turned blue after taking the supplement.
But data suggests that use of the supplement, which has also been called a “legal opioid” and “legal high” online, continues to rise.
Data of The United States National Poison Data System showed that only 11 Kratom poisonings were reported in 2011.
But in the first seven months of 2018 alone, this number shot up to 357 cases.
A 2021 study estimated that 1.7 million Americans were taking the supplement, in part to help alleviate opioid addictions.
Medications such as methadone and naltrexone are used to treat opioid addiction, but they can have side effects such as constipation, headaches, sweating and insomnia, leading many to seek alternatives.
It’s unclear why Kratom can turn a person’s skin blue, but scientists have previously suggested it may be related to the supplement raising dopamine levels, which can increase melanin production, which It can cause thicker colored spots to appear.
It could also be related to the supplement causing deposits around the blood vessels, which can cause blue spots or any impurities in the supplement.
Blue skin has only appeared in areas exposed to sunlight, which is also linked to increased melanin production.
This differs from blue skin caused by a condition called cyanosis, which is when a lack of oxygen in the blood causes it to change color.
in a case revealed in February This year involved a 30-year-old man who went to doctors in Kansas, the patient said he started using Kratom to help with an opioid addiction.
He took Kratom for four and a half years before the discoloration occurred and told doctors it had appeared quickly.
He started taking Kratom for an opioid addiction, and he had no other medical conditions and did not take any other medications or supplements that could have caused the blue skin to emerge.
In another case from 2022A 54-year-old man who went to a doctor in Washington state also revealed that his skin had turned blue while taking Kratom.
He said the color had slowly appeared on both arms and face in areas exposed to sunlight.
He had also been taking Kratom with orange juice three to four times a day for five years to help with his opioid addiction.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) suggested banning Kratom in 2017 and placing it in a Schedule I substance along with heroin, marijuana, and LSD.
But these plans were later abandoned following widespread protests over the measure in many US cities.
An estimated 2.1 million Americans currently struggle with opioid addiction.
