GEORGE TOWN, July 6 — A study conducted by a group of scientists through collaboration between Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Yale University, USA has found ketum (Mitragyna speciosa) to be effective as a painkiller.
USM in a statement issued here today, said the study was headed by its Centre for Drug Research (CDR) director, Professor Dr BK Vicknasingam and Prof Dr Marek C. Chawarski from Yale University’s School of Medicine.
“It was an important randomised double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving 26 volunteers.
“However, a more in-depth study on the efficacy of ketum as a pain reliever and on its safety profile is needed,” it said.
The discovery from the study with experiments conducted on humans for the first time, has been published in the June 2020 issue of the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine’ (YJBM) which reports the outcome that had been evaluated objectively.
“Hence, it has confirmed or given preliminary support to the efficacy of ketum as a pain reliever, which previously was only reported anecdotally based on personal experiences through observational studies,” the statement said.
Besides the CDR receiving an allocation from the Education Ministry under the Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE) programme for the ketum study, the National Institute of Health (NIH), USA is keen to support such a study while giving allocations to the universities there to conduct various comprehensive studies. — Bernama
